Teen Mom 's Briana Dejesus Responds to Kailyn Lowry's "Meritless" Defamation Lawsuit
Briana Dejesus is fighting back in court.
Nearly one month after Kailyn Lowry filed a defamation lawsuit against her Teen Mom 2 co-star, Dejesus is speaking out in defense of herself. In new court documents obtained by E! News on Aug. 10, Dejesus and her legal team filed an Anti-SLAPP motion and argued Lowry's complaint should be dismissed with prejudice in its entirety.
"It is meritless and directed exclusively at protected speech on a matter of public concern brought for the purpose of harassing and trying to silence a critic, rather than to vindicate any of Lowry's rights," Dejesus' attorney Marc J. Randazza stated in court documents.
In a separate statement, Dejesus (who also goes by Briana Soto) said her co-worker's lawsuit "was not a good use of the court system."
"I look forward to the judge seeing it for what it is, and ending this as quickly as the judge can," she said in a statement to Celebuzz! "My family emigrated to this great country because we were seeking freedom. The greatest freedom we have is the First Amendment. If someone wants to sue me for exercising my First Amendment rights, they are not only coming after me, but after the generations of freedom-seeking people who have made this the greatest country in the world. None of us will accept this without a fight."
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In response to Dejesus' latest court filing, Lowry's attorney Nicole Haff told E! News, "My client stands by her lawsuit and we look forward to disproving Ms. Soto's position."
Back in July, Lowry filed a lawsuit against her longtime co-star for defamation after Dejesus "asserted that Lowry physically beat Christopher Lopez, the father of two of Lowry's sons, and broke into and entered the home of Mr. Lopez's mother."
In court documents obtained by E! News, Lowry's legal team claimed Dejesus' comments were untrue and they were made "for the purpose of causing Lowry harm...Defendant used Lowry to gain additional media attention for herself."
Soon after the lawsuit was filed, Lowry's rep released a statement saying, "Kail takes these statements very seriously. After necessary self-reflection, Kail has decided to handle this situation with Ms. Dejesus by exercising her legal right to protect herself and her brand in Court."
Dejesus previously went on Instagram Live to shed some light on her longtime feud with the Coffee Convos podcast host.
"I was the fifth girl added to Teen Mom 2, and some people didn't like the fact that I was taking away TV time from others, but that's not the point." Dejesus said in her video obtained by fan sites. "Anyways, I messed around with somebody's ex-husband, I get it, you hate me for that. I tried to say sorry, I apologize, we're passed that."
