Coeur D’Alene — On Tuesday, Sept. 27 an Idaho drag performer named Eric Posey sued blogger Summer Bushnell for defamation regarding an altered video of a drag performance that falsely shows Posey exposing his genitals at the June 11 Pride celebration in Coeur D’Alene. In the complaint, it alleges that Bushnell doctored the video with the purpose of gaining popularity on social media.
“Her plan worked: her false statements and doctored video received nearly 19 times more views than each of her prior 10 videos,” the lawsuit said. “But Bushnell’s publicity was not free; it came at the expense of Posey’s reputation. He now sues her for defamation.”
In a Facebook post Wednesday morning on a page called The Bushnell Report, which is run by Bushnell, it states that she has not yet been served with papers and that she did not doctor the video. Some supporters expressed interest in starting a GoFundMe for her lawyer fees.
Boise Weekly spoke with Posey’s lawyer, Wendy Olsen, who said that once a lawsuit is filed a processor is hired to serve the papers and she anticipates that should be done within the appropriate amount of time.
“Mr. Posey brought about a complaint for false statements and an edited video that he had exposed himself,” said Olsen. “It continues to circulate. The Coeur D’Alene police reviewed the footage and he has been cleared.”
The video, which can still be seen on The Bushnell Report Facebook page, was posted on June 12 has 433 comments and was shared 455 times as of Thursday, Sept. 29.
Further, the complaint states that, “Bushnell’s lies had the intended effect. Bushnell’s popularity on Facebook soared, as her video has been viewed approximately 19,300 times and shared on other social media accounts and platforms. By comparison, her prior 10 videos were each viewed between approximately 235 and 1,400 times.”
The altered video shows a blurred image surrounding Posey’s crotch area while he is performing and the post claims he was exposing himself to children. The post also is a call to action, asking people to report it to the authorities. However, after the city of Coeur D’Alene attorney’s office reviewed the reports, the office said that the unaltered version of the video shows that Posey was in fact not exposing himself while performing and no charges were filed.
“Posey wore shorts under a leotard during the performance,” states the lawsuit. “He also had on tights, undergarments, and a boa wrapped around his waist. During his performance, Posey never removed any articles of clothing. His genitals were always completely covered.”
Posey is suing Bushnell for damages and requesting a trial by jury.
The complaint further outlines how members of the white nationalist hate-group Patriot Front were arrested for plans to riot at Pride and how prior to the event performers and organizers,”experienced an onslaught of harassing calls, emails, social media messages, and other online activities. Individuals and groups circulated hate flyers with threatening language misrepresenting events, individuals, and partnering organizations.”
In a video on the Bushnell Youtube channel uploaded on June 12, the defendant said that she was at the Pride performance and that, “Why did no one arrest the man in a dress who flashed his genitalia to minors and people in the crowd? No one said anything about it, that’s not ok and there’s video. I’m going to put up blurred video to prove it.”
Bushnell and her husband John also own Bushnell Media, a digital marketing company. The website states that, “John has been writing app for Apple products for over ten years as J. Bushnell Software, and has been supporting hotel software as AHM Support since 2007.”
The Bushnell Report is also a website that publishes a variety of videos and blog posts on a number of right-leaning topics, with sometimes more that three things being posted daily. The website states that it is “North Idaho News from a Liberty and Freedom Viewpoint.” Decrying Gov. Little’s mask mandate, critical race theory, The Idaho 97 Project, textbooks in public schools, local elections and Wikileaks are just a few of the subjects it touches on. Additionally, there are videos and posts that support what are now considered to be erroneous claims about porn literacy in Idaho schools.
