Justin Bieber files $20 million defamation suit against sexual assault accusers

Last week, Justin Bieber went on Twitter to try and refute a sexual assault allegation from a woman who identified herself as “Danielle” and claimed that Bieber assaulted her after a surprise performance at SXSW in 2014. Bieber not only denied assaulting the woman but presented documents and news stories that served as an alibi, mostly based around Bieber saying that his then-girlfriend Selena Gomez was with him in Austin at the time and that he had receipts proving he didn’t stay at the hotel where the woman claimed to have met him. Bieber said in his Twitter thread that he was “working with Twitter and authorities to take legal action,” and now he appears to be doing just that.

According to E! News, Bieber has filed a $20 million defamation lawsuit against both “Danielle” and another woman identified as “Kadi” who claimed in a separate Twitter post that Bieber assaulted her in 2015 after the Met Gala in New York. The lawsuit suggests that the two women might be the same person and says that the “heinous accusations” are “outrageous, fabricated lies, but either way, he’s seeking $10 million from both accusers. The E! story touches on how Bieber addresses the “Kadi” accusations as well, noting that he “immediately” went to a private party after the Met Gala with “dozens of other celebrities and witnesses” and stayed there until early the next morning when he was photographed getting food at a hot dog stand with some other people—after the time when the accuser says he took her to his hotel room.