Jessica Yaniv Simpson’s BC Supreme Court lawsuit against Rebel Media alleging harassment and defamation has been dismissed. Sadly, costs were not granted, but the judgment is a 27-page indictment of JY’s credibility, legal skills, and abuse of the legal system.
To catch you up, Yaniv sued Rebel and Rebel applied for it to be dismissed. This was heard in late May, and the Judge reserved making a judgment until July 12, 2022.
His judgment includes a scathing review of Yaniv’s character and behaviour, describing Yaniv as notorious, highly combative, and a prolific litigant in BC courts and the HRT. The judge specifically references six court cases and Yaniv’s waxing HRT cases, and included citations where the tribunal member had said Yaniv was deceptive, punitive, and racist. It’s also noted that Yaniv’s appeals were lost, and these cases gained widespread attention – including from Rebel.
The Judge then references the infamous Blaire White video, and how it led to criminal charges. The judgment includes details about White’s allegations that JY was engaged in illicit behaviour online with underage girls.
The judgement goes on to question Yaniv’s claim that he had a previously “valued and unblemished reputation in the Province of British Columbia and elsewhere in Canada and throughout the world” and that Rebel vilified him. Rebels defense to these claims was that they were making fair comment, the claims were true, and that it was responsible communication and reporting on the topics of Yaniv preying on vulnerable immigrant women, being deceitful by pretending to be a woman for voyeuristic reasons and pretending to be disabled to use free assisted transit, being a pedophile, and a violent criminal.
The Judge wrote that he was satisfied that members of the public would have a genuine interest in these things, and that if they were true they would affect the welfare of all citizens. He added that Yaniv’s online and public conduct can be fairly described as notorious and controversial.
When measuring if Yaniv’s case had any merit, the Judge ruled out any chance of Yaniv having a case for harassment, since the Rebel reporters were just doing their job, and no such tort exists anyways. However, the Judge agreed that some of Rebels claims in their YouTube series about Yaniv were potentially defamatory if found to be false. The Judge didn’t say if they were true or false – just that they met the bar for being defamatory IF they were false.
Rebel argued that the case should be dismissed because JY had been unable to refute their defenses because the alleged defamatory statements were true and/or fair comment. The Judge agrees that Rebel’s comments were in the public interest, and they could be interpreted as deductions or conclusions drawn from what Rebel had seen about JY.
JY did prepare an affidavit responding to Rebels dismissal application, it didn’t actually say anything about the accuracy of what Rebel had said. In other words, JY didn’t do anything to disprove what Rebel had said, he just thought they were being mean.
Regarding Rebels assertions that JY bullies vulnerable immigrant women, the Judge noted that the factual basis for these claims comes from the HRT waxing decision.
Regarding Rebels assertions that JY is violent, dangerous, and criminal, the factual basis for that claim comes from the Blaire White video and the criminal prosecutions. Yaniv tried to argue he didn’t have a “taser”, but a charged energy weapon, which he suggests is different. The Judge wasn’t having it.
Regarding Rebels assertions that Yaniv feigns disabilities, the factual basis for this is in various videos showing JY engaged in physical activities like running and wielding a cane as a weapon, inconsistent with other appearances showing Yaniv in a scooter.
The Judge did reference Yaniv’s response that they have various debilitating conditions (fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, chronic fatigue
syndrome, severe bilateral sensoneural hearing loss, central pain sensitivity, sciatica, central sensitization syndrome and many other health ailments), but says Yaniv’s affidavit didn’t say how they require him to use a scooter. Rebel, on the other hand, was able to use medical records (likely sourced from MeowMix’s library) to show that Yaniv had seen a doctor about using a scooter for reasons entirely different than what Yaniv cites in his affidavit (dizzy spells, ataxia, falls)
Yaniv’s burden was to show that Rebel had acted dishonestly, but the best Yaniv could do was suggest that they were acting unreasonably or outrageously. This doesn’t defeat their defense of fair comment.
Yaniv also argued that being labelled a pedophile and “pretending to be a woman” was the most damaging. The Judge was able to cite several sources that support Rebels claims. The Judge didn’t outright call Yaniv a pedo, but he admitted to case law and court history several clauses that reference Yaniv’s pedophilic behaviour, including sexual chat logs with girls 13-16 years old and conversations about naked girls in change rooms. Rebel showed that these screenshots and records exist on several websites and the Blaire White video, and the Judge also referenced Yaniv’s Township of Langley application to organize and host a topless pool party for kids as young as 12 where parents are banned.
Some of the video clips shown by Rebel include Yaniv taking a picture with young girls in the background in the bathroom, and referencing how Yaniv traveled to Toronto to meet a catfish and a young girl at a hospital. Yaniv provided no evidence about these claims at all and no defence. The Judge ruled that they met the bar for fair comment.
With the above evidence submitted, the Judge ruled that Yaniv didn’t meet the required burden to move ahead with a defamation case against Rebel. With this in mind, the Judge ruled the case could be closed, but wanted to add further facts to the judgment anyways.
The last test Yaniv had to meet was to prove he had been harmed by Rebels words. Yaniv argued that Rebel caused “significant emotional distress, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation,” and that they have caused “extreme distress” and “multiple suicide attempts.“
The Judge said Yaniv’s claim of having a previously unblemished reputation was a lie, and that Yaniv was already the target of extensive adverse publicity from multiple sources. Rebel was just one of many.
Further, the Judge added (again, he didn’t need to…) that Yaniv had CHOSEN to engage in this public arena and Rebels attacks on JY were often matched by Yaniv’s targeted attacks on Rebel via social media, and that Yaniv often resorts to litigation or threats of litigation to stifle criticism.
Even if Yaniv HAD been harmed, that harm is still weighed against the public interest. The Judge accepts that Rebel had at least some motivation to warn the public about what they believed to be true about Yaniv, even if some find it offensive. The Judge concedes that some of the actions engaged in by Rebel were probably over the line.
With all the above in mind, the Judge granted Rebels application to dismiss and tossed Yaniv’s case. He then moved on to the matter of costs. Rebel wanted full costs granted, alleging it was a SLAPP lawsuit. The hallmarks of a typical SLAPP case involve a weak claim, a history of threats of litigation, and scant evidence, which JY nails across the board. However, another hallmark is that plaintiffs are usually well-funded and use disproportionate resources to bully a weaker defendant. In this case, Rebel is far more well-funded than Yaniv. This imbalance tilted the Judge towards making each party bear their own costs.
In short…there is now BC Supreme Court case law that includes the Blaire White video, accusations of Yaniv being a pedo and the public interest in that, and claims that Yaniv has abused the court system for personal gain. I wonder how JY feels about that, especially since this can now be used as a reference in every future defamation case Yaniv tries to start. #Karma.
Read the full judgment at this link, or download it below. Ehat do you think about Jessica Yaniv Simpson Supreme court failure?
[mdocs single-file=”20220712 JY vs Rebel Media BC Supreme Court Judgment and Dismissal.pdf”]
