UPDATED 3:33 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Herbalife International of America Inc. has sued Twitter Inc. in a reported bid to out the identity of a person posting on Twitter as @AfueraHerbaLIES and then potentially sue that person for defamation, Reuters and other media outlets are reporting.
The PP Blog this morning identified the action as case No. 2015-L-007373. It was filed July 20 in the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill. Dentons US LLP is listed as counsel for Herbalife. The complaint is styled a “Petition for Discovery.” It was not immediately clear if Twitter had been served.
From Reuters (italics added):
Herbalife said it wants Twitter to provide information such as IP addresses and account details of the user who vilified the company and its management as “thieves, pill pushing frauds and bullies”.
The @AfueraHerbaLIES Twitter site appears to have posts in both Spanish and English and to position Herbalife as a pyramid scheme that rips off Latinos. One post — apparently from yesterday — features an image of a space alien puffing on a cigarette (or weed) while flipping Herbalife the bird.
Another — dated July 14 — is positioned as a “Media Alert.” It tells readers “El Chapo” was seen entering Herbalife’s corporate office.
“El Chapo” is the reputed druglord Joaquin Guzman Loera, who escaped from a prison in Mexico on July 11, prompting the U.S. Department of Justice to issue a statement on a Sunday that offered assistance to Mexico in recapturing him.
Herbalife sued six days after the “Media Alert” post, which included a superimposed image of Guzman in a frame that also included an image of Herbalife CEO Michael O. Johnson outside an Herbalife office building.
“Wonder what he could be doing there? $$$,” the Tweet inquired (and answered) about Guzman.
Billionaire businessman, MLM aficionado and GOP Presidential hopeful Donald Trump last week reportedly declared he’d kick Guzman’s ass. Trump reportedly later called the FBI, when a Twitter account purportedly linked to Guzman was used to threaten him.
Herbalife has been under fire from activist investor Bill Ackman, who has called the company a pyramid scheme that targets vulnerable population groups. (See Nov. 13, 2013, PP Blog editorial: Herbalife And Polarization In The Latino Community. Use the Blog’s search function for other references to Ackman and Herbalife.)
Herbalife has hired former government officials as it seeks to stem the tide of attacks against the company, which faces investigations in multiple jurisdictions. As it gets more and more entrenched in politics, the MLM firm, which was ripe for parody before Ackman produced a serious analysis in 2012, now may be particularly ripe.
If Trump, displeased with the state of immigration in America, drops out of the Presidential race, for example, might the Herbalife braintrust consider hiring him to bolster the relationship between the company and Latinos? (It might not be a good idea.)
Might the company be in the market to hire the “two 20-week old, 48-pound” Thanksgiving turkeys President Obama pardoned last year — simply because they were available and potentially useful as part of Washington’s revolving door? Could those grossly overweight birds have benefited from a month or two on Herbalife weight-loss shakes? Will there be “before” and “after” pictures if Herbalife takes them on?
An opinion piece at ValueWalk this afternoon illustrates some of the PR dangers Herbalife faces with its action aimed at @AfueraHerbaLIES, an account that appears to have only 93 followers.
NOTE ADDED AT 8:35 P.M. EDT U.S.A. See the first comment in the thread below, which includes a link to a report today in the Cook County Record. Herbalife appears to be bringing this action under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 224. The PP Blog has provided additional links below that contain information on Rule 224.