Reality TV star sues Facebook, Google and Reddit as he claims he's a victim of a 'defamatory online campaign'

Scott Wern rose to fame when he appeared on 90 Day Fiancé: Love In Paradise and he’s also known for The Family Chantel, both of which were broadcast on the US network TLC. He’s taken his case to Ireland’s High Court

The show 90 Day Fiancé saw four foreign women travelling to the United States to live with their prospective spouses for the first time using a unique time-limited visa. At the end of series each couple had to decide whether ot not they wanted to get married.

Scott first appeared on the show as Lidia Morel's boyfriend, who is the mother of one of the fiancé’s followed in the show; Pedro Jimeno. Pedro married Chantel Everett appearing on the original show.

The Family Chantel was a spin-off show, and it followed American Chantel, her Dominican husband Pedro, and their families - which by extension included Scott - as they enjoyed their intercultural marriage.

He gained infamy among fans of the show for his onscreen behaviour and a physical altercation he had with Pedro. He went on to break up with Lidia, and has reportedly shown interest in other cast members - but none of those relationships have come to anything.

52-year-old Scott previously complained about how he was portrayed on the shows saying he was edited to appear as a “villain”.

Now, his close friend has said that, as a result of how he was portrayed, abuse and false claims spread about him online. These were posted on Facebook, Google and Reddit over the past two years. The unnamed friend said the claims have had a devastating effect on Scott’s life.

Legal proceedings against the three companies were subsequently lodged by Scott in the High Court on Friday March 28. On Friday, Wern confirmed to SundayWorld that he was responsible for filing the cases but declined to comment further.

There is no cap on potential damages that can be issued by the High Court if they find in Scott’s favour. His friend told the publication that taking the case to the High Court in Dublin was a last resort.

“Scott has previously contacted these companies through their online forums and complained about what is happening but he got no response,” the source said “Subsequently, he wrote to these companies asking them to remove this content and de-platform these people, warning that if they failed to do so, he would have no choice but to take a legal action.

“Again he has had no response. Scott doesn’t want to engage in a legal battle against these companies but he feels he has been given no choice. This has been going on for the past two years.”

They went on: “For example, on Redditt a ‘snark’ is basically a sub-reddit on the site set up to discuss a particular topic or person. One of these was focused on Scott and there were 900 people on it. These people dedicated themselves to finding things out about Scott.

They then explained the impact on Scott: “He lost jobs over it when they contacted his employers and once, when he was on a dating website in Ireland, they warned the women on the site to stay away from him.

“These people were trying to outdo each other in the damage they were doing to him. And it wasn’t just an online thing — it was having a serious effect on him in the real world too.”

The friend said Scott was hoping to have the matter dealt with amicably but wanted the content about him permanently removed, along with the groups permanently shut down, to allow him to get on with his life.

“Scott is just a normal average guy who got stuck on a TV show that millions of people watch,” the friend went on. “So a lot of these people are just jealous of him, they think this could have been them and they hate him for it and they are trying to destroy his life.

“So even though he’s not saying the companies have done this, he is saying they are platforming it and he wants that to stop.”

Scott previously spoke of the effect of being cast a villain on a reality TV show. “If you’re a villain,” he said, “they make you expendable. And then you have to live with those consequences.”