A case of mistaken identity and a penis have caused media outlet TMZ to be sued.
In 2014, rapper Andre Johnson, aka Christ Bearer, in a moment of emotional crisis and alleged drug use cut off his penis then jumped out of a second story window. The incident was widely reported and TMZ was among the first to report on the story, which was then picked up by other news outlets. However, TMZ initially identified fellow rapper and former Wu-Tang Clan associate Marques Johnson, aka Andre Roxx, as the person who cut off his penis. TMZ corrected its story but not before news outlets such BET.com, Radio One, Barstool Sports and others reported that Andre Roxx was the subject.
Now Johnson is furious and is suing TMZ, Warner Bros., Viacom and Gannett in a defamation lawsuit. According to the complaint filed Wednesday “Even after TMZ posted a corrected story, and after other media outlets had made some effort to correct their stories, Defendants continued to report the same false information — that Plaintiff had cut off his penis and jumped off a balcony, and to this day no Defendant other than TMZ has even corrected the story. … Other than their affiliation with the Killa Beez and the Wu Tang Clan, and the fact that they are both African American male musicians, there are and were key differences between Plaintiff and Christ Bearer. Their names, though containing the overlapping (and common) names ‘Andre’ and ‘Johnson,’ are not the same. Christ Bearer’s given name is Andre Johnson; Plaintiff’s is Marques Johnson. The two did not bear a physical resemblance at the time of the incident: Christ Bearer is at least ten years older than Plaintiff, and Plaintiff’s appearance is distinct due to his green eye color, which is unusual in African American men.”
When the story hit the news, Marques Johnson was in prison and had to be placed in protective custody. According to Johnson, other prisoners started to harass him about cutting off his penis. Now that Johnson is out of jail, he claims that he cannot rebuild his music career because of the case of mistaken identity and resulting bad publicity.
