Machine Gun Kelly blames “false” news reports for failure to answer battery lawsuit

nme.com:

Machine Gun Kelly has blamed his fame and “false” news reports for his failure to respond to an assault and battery lawsuit filed against him by a disabled parking lot attendant.In the complaint filed last September, the attendant John Tilli alleged that Kelly (real name Colson Baker) pushed and threatened him while he was working.

The suit came after the LA City Attorney’s Office decided not to go forward with charges due to a lack of “reasonable likelihood of conviction”.Now, in a new filing obtained by Rolling Stone, Baker is requesting a judge to set aside his recent default in the case and allow him to fight the civil claim over the alleged incident, which took place at a bank in Studio City, Los Angeles in August 2021.Writing in a new sworn statement explaining his delay in answering the lawsuit, Baker said: “As a result of my profession, there are many stories, accounts, reports and other write-ups citing my stage name, ‘Machine Gun Kelly’ [that] purport to describe activities in which I have been involved.“When I followed them regularly, I found that many of the publications ranged from false to only partially true.”He continued: “These publications occur sometimes multiple times each day.

As a result, I no longer make it common practice to read publications about me or those that cite to my entertainment name, Machine Gun Kelly, to determine whether or not something therein is truthful, newsworthy or should place me on notice.”Baker claimed that he had not been served with the complaint and hadn’t seen the official publication of the summons prior to the deadline to respond to the lawsuit.“Upon learning of the lawsuit, I promptly retained counsel,” he wrote. “I further note that I deny the allegations made.