Why Is Ethan Klein Getting Sued by Triller’s Ryan Kavanaugh Explained

Ethan Klein of the H3 podcast is in hot water again. And again, it’s Ryan Kavanaugh on the other side of the dispute.

Kavanaugh has sued Klein for the third time. But the contention remains the same as the previous times, unlawful use of Kavanaugh’s company Triller Fight Club’s content and malicious behavior online.

Why Did Ethan Klein Get Sued Again?

To know about the recent case Kavanaugh has filed, we have to go into the history of the dispute itself. It starts in April 2021.

On April 17, 2021, Triller, a company Kavanaugh has an interest in, put up a boxing match against Jake Paul and Ben Askren. The Pay Per View (PPV) was set to be $49.99, and it was a successful attempt for the company.

Kavanaugh, in his piece, however, claimed that it was not as successful as it was supposed to be. And that, he alleged, was due to internet piracy, and more particularly, due to podcasts like H3.

He went on to talk about how the likes of the H3 podcast broadcasted the fight to millions of people and took away revenue from Triller.

This prompted Triller to file a $100 million lawsuit in late April against many parties, including Klein, the H3 podcast, and his wife, Hila Klein.

This was the first case, and it got dismissed without any repercussions for Klein.

But, as Kavanaugh asserts, Klein operated in ‘bad faith’ and performed unlawful activities — he revealed the terms of the lawsuit and settlement between him and Triller and disparaged the company.

Therefore, in May 2021, Triller filed another lawsuit. This time, it was a $50 million lawsuit against only H3 for the same reason as before — unlawful broadcasting of the fight and a couple of other complaints.

But, Kavanaugh claims Klein only “escalated his juvenile reaction” since the first lawsuit.

He alleged that the H3 host started personal attacks against him when he was not Triller but only a shareholder and co-founder at the company.

According to him, Klein’s malicious activities include doing more than eight podcasts slandering him, comparing him to Harvey Weinstein. For instance, spreading false information through fake sites (including a Variety article that allegedly debunks itself), and encouraging his followers to attack his social media channels.

Further, Klein also paid Wikipedia editors to edit and tamper with his Wikipedia page and asked his followers to give low ratings to Triller’s app on the App Store, or so Kavanaugh affirms.

All these slanderous activities forced the Triller co-founder to file a defamation lawsuit against Klein.

Ethan Klein’s Response to the Latest Lawsuit

Ethan Klein isn’t one to hide, though. Almost immediately after Kavanaugh published his piece on CSQ, Klein took to Twitter to address the suit.

He sent out a tweet claiming that Kavanaugh was trying to get his channel banned from YouTube, calling him “a powerful media person who has gone to every length to destroy me for criticizing him.”

Further, he called for everyone’s attention, saying that Fair Use was on the line.

In the tweet, he included a screenshot from Kavanaugh’s stories that showcase the legal papers of the new lawsuit.

Additionally, further down the thread, he posted a screenshot of a “threatening” text Kavanaugh sent him on Instagram.

And finally, at the time of this writing, Klein has also scheduled an emergency YouTube live session. The session titled “Ryan Kavanaugh Just Filed His Third Lawsuit Against Me - Emergency LIVE Off The Rails” for 12:30 PM Pacific Time on December 1 to address this latest development in the case.