Kevin Kelly & Tate Twins Defamation Lawsuit Against AEW Update – AEW Seeking Arbitration Clauses to be Enforced

As noted before, former AEW commentator Kevin Kelly and former AEW and ROH talents The Tate Twins (Brandon & Brent Tate), former The Boys, filed a defamation lawsuit this past September against AEW, AEW CEO Tony Khan, and AEW/ROH commentator Ian Riccaboni. AEW recently requested for the lawsuit to be moved to a federal court and outlined how much they have spent on talent since 2022.

Post Wrestling’s John Pollock reported that the defendants filed a motion on Friday asking the court for the claims against them to be dismissed and to enforce the arbitration clauses in Kelly and the Tate Twins’ contracts based on recent court records.

In the filing, representatives for the defendants are seeking claims for “declaratory judgment, breach of contract, tortious interference with a contract or business relationship, and defamation and false light among the allegations.”

The defendants reportedly also requested for the lawsuit to be dismissed due to it being filed in an improper venue and for the court to enforce the terms in Kelly and Tate Twins AEW contracts that call for arbitration. They also stated that the alternative to arbitration would be for the case to be tried in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Jacksonville Division.

In their filing, the defendants are arguing that only two members of the case, Kelly and Riccaboni, are residents of Pennsylvania and that the case should be tried in Florida due to that being where AEW is based and where the contracts were legally executed. They also are claiming that the plaintiffs had agreed to resolve all disputes in Duval County, Florida and their contracts state that disputes would be resolved in arbitration privately.

Pollock reported that the defendants are also arguing that moving the case to Florida would be beneficial to Riccaboni due to the potential of incurring greater costs to defend himself.

Defendant Riccaboni has a strong interest in having this case tried in the Middle District of Florida because of his contractual relationship and defense agreement with Defendant AEW and its counsel. If required to retain his own counsel against Plaintiffs defending against a class action case in federal court, Defendant Riccaboni would incur significant and burdensome expenses. Moreover, because Plaintiffs chose to bootstrap claims against Defendant Riccaboni to their contract-related lawsuit against AEW, Defendant Riccaboni would incur the unnecessary expense of having to pay his own counsel to respond to a 267-paragraph complaint, assert his position in all motion practice conducted throughout the pendency of this action, and defend him through dispositive motions and trial.