In June 2025, television judge and attorney Faith Jenkins and her husband, R&B singer Kenny Lattimore, filed a defamation and harassment lawsuit in Los Angeles County against a group of anonymous YouTube creators. The Faith Jenkins and Kenny Lattimore defamation lawsuit accuses the creators of publishing false stories about the couple’s marriage, inventing court documents and judicial rulings, attributing quotes to them they never made, and using artificial intelligence to manufacture claims about their family life.1Ice Cream Convos. Judge Faith Jenkins and Kenny Lattimore File Lawsuit Against YouTubers for Defamation and Harassment
In a joint statement announcing the filing, the couple explained why they moved from silence to court. “For weeks, we remained silent — but that silence should not be mistaken for acceptance,” they said.1Ice Cream Convos. Judge Faith Jenkins and Kenny Lattimore File Lawsuit Against YouTubers for Defamation and Harassment
What the Complaint Alleges
The complaint identifies three categories of conduct by the anonymous creators. First, the videos referenced court documents that do not exist and presented fake judicial rulings as real. Second, they attributed quotes to Jenkins and Lattimore that neither had ever said. Third, the creators allegedly used generative AI tools to fabricate claims about the couple, monetizing the resulting videos through YouTube’s ad system.1Ice Cream Convos. Judge Faith Jenkins and Kenny Lattimore File Lawsuit Against YouTubers for Defamation and Harassment
The couple is represented by attorney Felton Newell of Newell Law Group.1Ice Cream Convos. Judge Faith Jenkins and Kenny Lattimore File Lawsuit Against YouTubers for Defamation and Harassment
How You Sue Anonymous YouTubers
Because the defendants posted under pseudonyms, an early hurdle in the case is identifying who they actually are. According to Jenkins and Lattimore, YouTube’s legal team confirmed it would release identifying information for the anonymous uploaders in response to a valid legal request. That is the standard mechanism in this kind of case: the plaintiff subpoenas the platform for IP addresses and account information, then uses that data to name individual defendants and serve them.1Ice Cream Convos. Judge Faith Jenkins and Kenny Lattimore File Lawsuit Against YouTubers for Defamation and Harassment
California courts do not order that disclosure automatically. Judges balance the plaintiff’s need to pursue a legitimate defamation claim against the speaker’s First Amendment right to anonymous expression. California appellate decisions including Krinsky v. Doe No. 6 and Glassdoor, Inc. v. Superior Court require plaintiffs to demonstrate a viable claim before a court will strip anonymity.2Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Trends in Protection of Anonymous Online Speech
Where the Case Stands
ABC News reported in November 2025 that the couple’s legal battle against the YouTubers was ongoing, with videos containing false information about their marriage still at the center of the dispute.3ABC News. Judge Faith Jenkins-Lattimore and Kenny Lattimore Legal Battle
In February 2026, Jenkins and Lattimore attended a press conference at KBLA radio station headquarters in Los Angeles held by civil rights attorney Ben Crump. Crump announced that his firm had sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and California Attorney General Rob Bonta urging an investigation into YouTube’s monetization practices, arguing that the platform’s ad model enables foreign entities to spread AI-generated misinformation targeting Black American celebrities. “This is not just an issue of content moderation,” Crump said. “It’s a matter of ethical responsibility to ensure that our leaders and influencers are not maliciously targeted. … It’s about protecting Black voices.”4The Recorder. Attorney Urges FTC and California AG to Investigate Alleged Defamation of Black Celebrities on YouTube Judge Greg Mathis, Stevie Wonder, Loni Love, and MC Lyte also attended.5Ben Crump Law. Ben Crump YouTube Monetization Press Conference
The Anti-SLAPP Question
California’s anti-SLAPP statute, codified at Civil Procedure Code Section 425.16, gives defendants a way to seek early dismissal of lawsuits that arise from protected speech activity. Once a defendant files the motion, the plaintiff must show a probability of prevailing by producing evidence capable of supporting a favorable verdict. A defendant who wins can recover attorney’s fees.6Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Anti-SLAPP Laws
Whether the anonymous YouTubers could use that defense depends on whether their videos qualify as speech on a matter of public concern and whether Jenkins and Lattimore can produce concrete evidence of falsity and harm. The complaint’s focus on fabricated court documents and fake quotes is designed to meet that evidentiary bar: those are provably false factual assertions rather than opinion or commentary.
The Pattern the Lawsuit Targets
The Jenkins-Lattimore case fits inside a documented trend. NBC News reported in early 2024 on a growing cottage industry of YouTube channels using generative AI to produce clickbait videos that mix real celebrity news with fabricated allegations, complete with AI voiceovers, scripts, and manipulated images made to look like legitimate reporting.7NBC News. AI Deepfake Fake News YouTube Black Celebrities
Researchers have found Black public figures are disproportionately targeted, including Sean “Diddy” Combs, Steve Harvey, Denzel Washington, and Bishop T.D. Jakes. Deepfake detection specialists at the University at Buffalo assessed thumbnails and video content from these channels as 87% to 99% likely to be AI-generated. Because sensational celebrity content drives engagement, YouTube’s recommendation algorithms often surface these videos in search results, and creators earn ad revenue from the resulting views.7NBC News. AI Deepfake Fake News YouTube Black Celebrities
What Verdicts in Similar Cases Have Looked Like
Recent judgments suggest juries will impose real damages for online defamation when a plaintiff can identify and serve the poster. A Texas couple falsely accused of sexual crimes through anonymous posts on Topix.com won a $13.78 million jury verdict after subpoenaing the platform to identify the posters.8Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Jury Awards $13.8M Defamation Judgment to Plaintiffs of Anonymous Commenter In May 2026, a Nashville jury awarded $17.5 million in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages against YouTuber Ryan Upchurch over a video falsely suggesting a missing teenager’s family had staged a GoFundMe scam.9WSMV. Nashville YouTuber Hit With $17.5M Verdict in Defamation Case Over True Crime Video Collecting from individual creators, however, is a separate question from winning.
Who Are the Plaintiffs
Faith Jenkins graduated first in her class from Southern University Law Center, spent five years as a commercial litigator at Sidley Austin, and then worked as a criminal prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.10Amsterdam News. Celebrated Attorney Faith Jenkins Takes the Bench11Faith Jenkins. About Faith Jenkins She presided over the syndicated court show Judge Faith from 2014 to 2018, later hosted Divorce Court, and currently hosts Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins on Oxygen.12Yahoo Entertainment. Judge Faith Jenkins Talks Her Career
Kenny Lattimore is a Grammy-nominated R&B singer whose 1996 self-titled debut album was certified gold and produced the hit single “For You.”13AllMusic. Kenny Lattimore Artist Page The couple married on March 8, 2020, in Los Angeles.14BET. See Judge Faith and Kenny Lattimore’s Luxe LA Nuptials Their public profile, and Jenkins’s visibility as a legal commentator across MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News, made them a recurring subject of the fabricated-news channels the lawsuit now targets.