Bristol Palin is being sued for defamation of character by a man who heckled her in a Los Angeles bar in 2011. Stephen Hanks, the plaintiff, is also suing the Lifetime channel for using footage of the incident in Palin's reality TV show. The amount of damages that he is seeking has not been specified but it is thought to be over $75,000 as the case had been filed in a federal court, Reuters have confirmed.
The incident, which happened in an LA bar in September last year, involved Hanks heckling Palin, who had just ridden a mechanical bull at the bar, telling her that her mother, Sarah Palin was a "whore" and that she was "evil." Palin then confronted the man about his sexuality, asking him if he was gay and getting involved in a heated dispute with him. Hanks claims that Lifetime never asked his permission to use the footage in their broadcast. Palin later told the magazine In Touch that she left Los Angeles and returned home to Alaska as a result of the incident.
Hanks' response to those claims is that she has defamed him by blaming her need to move home on him and claims that she had actually purchased a new home in Alaska in July 2011, negating her claims that the decision was made as a result of the incident. Representatives for Palin and Lifetime have not responded to requests for a comment, according to the report.