Claims of Harm and Calls for Retraction
In a statement emailed Tuesday to The Athletic, Kennedy’s attorney Jon Marko underscored the gravity of the accusation.
“The N-Word is the most offensive and inflammatory racial slur in the English language,” Marko wrote. “No other word expresses so much hatred and bigotry. Falsely accusing someone of using that word hurts not only the person falsely accused, but hurts every true victim of racial hatred and bigotry.”
Marko said Kennedy is seeking substantial monetary damages as well as court-ordered public retractions from all defendants. “Mr. Kennedy maintains that he never used any racial slurs or hate speech whatsoever,” Marko said.
The lawsuit also accuses Ford Field of failing to “monitor, supervise, and/or protect” Kennedy during the confrontation.
A news conference is scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. local time, Marko said.
NFL Review Ongoing
As of late December, the NFL indicated it was reviewing the incident to determine whether Kennedy violated the league’s guest code of conduct.
After serving a suspension and returning to play in January, Metcalf was asked by reporters about the altercation but declined to address specifics.
Now, the clash that began with shouted words and a sideline scuffle moves into a new arena — the courtroom — where the Lions fan $100m defamation lawsuit against Metcalf will test not just reputations, but the high stakes of speech in the age of instant amplification.
