Briana DeJesus has come out the victor in her Teen Mom 2 co-star Kail Lowry’s defamation lawsuit.
A judge ruled in Briana’s favor to dismiss the case Kail filed against her last summer. Kail alleged that Briana made “false” statements about her physically abusing her baby daddy, Chris Lopez.
Judge rules in favor of Briana DeJesus amid defamation lawsuit filed by Kail Lowry
Shortly after the case was filed against her, Briana and her attorney filed to have it dismissed. Now, a judge has sided with Briana and dismissed the case.
Monsters & Critics reached out to the Osceola County Clerk of the Circuit Court, who informed them that as of April 18, the case was still “open.” However, according to legal documents obtained by The Sun, the judge found Kail’s claims to be unfounded and said that Kail didn’t give Briana any notice before filing the suit, which she was required to do.
As far as what Briana shared online that prompted Kail to file the lawsuit, the judge reportedly said, “The written post cannot be considered defamatory because, as a matter of law, it contained protected speech regarding opinion or was factually accurate.”
They added, “It was widely publicized that Lowry had been arrested for domestic violence and [Briana]’s comments on the issue were substantially true. The damage to Lowry’s reputation, if any, had already occurred when the incident was publicized by news media.”
Briana made a brief statement to Celebuzz regarding the lawsuit and simply said, “I won.”
Kail Lowry issues statement to Teen Mom 2 fans following case dismissal
Following news of the case being dismissed, Kail took to her Instagram Stories where she issued a statement.
“While today’s ruling is unfortunate, I have to respect the judge’s decision,” Kail told her 4.3 million Instagram followers. “With that being said, I stand by my truth and the information spread about me was and still is not true.”
She added, “I would like to thank my legal team for fighting for me, and I am looking forward to life after this lawsuit so I can refocus my energy solely on my boys and my future business endeavors.”
Briana also reacted to the news, not only with her brief statement but with a post on Instagram, breaking her social media hiatus. Briana included a screenshot from this season of Teen Mom 2, during the episode in which she met up with Kail’s ex and baby daddy, Chris.
The 27-year-old mom of three captioned her post, “This has been a LONG battle, but the lawsuit Kailyn Lowry brought against me is finally over and a verdict has been made. #LinkInBio for official court documents, the verdict, and my statement ?⚖️”
Following their hearing last month, Briana and her attorney, Marc Randazza, felt secure they would come out victorious, and his instincts were correct.
Randazza issued a statement following Briana and Kail’s last meet-up in court, saying, “Yesterday, I think we got what is best in life. A thoughtful judge that I am confident will come down on the side that relied on the First Amendment, and not on the side that relied on negativity and smears.”
Teen Mom 2 airs on Tuesday nights at 8/7c on MTV.