From Judge Freda Wolfson's opinion Friday in McGillvary v. Grande (D.N.J.):
Caleb McGillvary …, proceeding pro se, filed this suit against Todd Grande …, alleging that Defendant defamed Plaintiff in a YouTube video …. Plaintiff is an individual currently incarcerated [for first-degree murder] in Trenton, New Jersey. Plaintiff has provided no information as to his domicile prior to incarceration in New Jersey. Defendant, a Delaware resident, is a licensed mental health therapist and counselor with a master's degree in Community Counseling and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision. According to Defendant, he does not have any personal or professional presence in the state of New Jersey, nor has he ever advertised, advised, or sought business opportunities in New Jersey.
Defendant operates a YouTube channel … where he publishes videos analyzing mental health topics from a scientific perspective. These videos, on occasion, have included examining the mental health of public figures, such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Lorena Bobbitt, Gabby Petito, Norm Macdonald, and Alicia Head. As of the filing of Defendant's affidavit, the YouTube Channel had 873,117 subscribers. On March 6, 2021, Defendant published a video to his YouTube Channel entitled, "Kai the Hitchhiker | Analysis of 'Hatchet-Wielding' Personality," where Defendant discussed Plaintiff's biography, the viral news video that made Plaintiff famous, and the event that resulted in Plaintiff's current incarceration; he then provided a mental health analysis of Plaintiff.
{In 2013, while hitchhiking in California, Plaintiff rescued a California utility worker being assaulted by attacking the perpetrator with a hatchet. [The murder for which McGillvary was convicted was separate from this attack. -EV] Following the attack, Plaintiff took part in a colorful interview with a local news reporter near the scene of the incident. The video of the interview went viral, and eventually garnered over 1 million views on YouTube.}
