NFL veteran turned analyst Kordell Stewart, the former husband of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member Porsha Williams, has sued reality show cast member Andrew Caldwell, who made statements – later retracted – indicating they’d had a relationship.
The suit, filed in DeKalb County Superior Court, also names “The Gospel Truth” creator and producer Jarrius Keyun Moon and Catalyst Next LLC, which controls the Internet morning show “The ShakeUP,” where Caldwell made statements claiming he and Stewart had a relationship.
“At all times during his life, Mr. Stewart has been, and is, a heterosexual male,” the suit states. It claims that Caldwell, a cast member of the upcoming show “The Gospel Truth,” colluded with Moon to concoct a compelling fable “to generate interest for ‘The Gospel Truth.’”
“The false and defamatory rumors that Mr. Caldwell and Defendant Moon agreed to publish are centered around Mr. Stewart having an extra-marital, sexual relationship with Mr. Caldwell,” it states.
Court documents include excerpts from the interview Caldwell gave on the show, “The ShakeUP,” on Oct. 1:
“I dated plenty of football players. I dated some in Atlanta. I dated, you know, Kordell. Yes. Kordell Stewart.”
During the interview Caldwell discussed how the two supposedly met: “I didn’t know who he was at first … I was like ‘oh my God, that’s you.’ And um, we was at a bar, we was at a restaurant and I was like, ‘oh my God that’s Kordell’ and they was like, ‘yeah he’s a football player’ and I was like, ‘mmm, I like football players.’”
The interview concluded amid a specter of potential litigation: “They come on with the lawsuit, I’m ready too, ‘cause I have like four lawyers.”
A week later, the suit states, Caldwell “issued an apology to Mr. Stewart for mentioning his name and making false accusations about him on ‘The ShakeUP.’ He further stated that he does not know Mr. Stewart and made up the statements.”
The suit notes that Caldwell first gained “notoriety and media attention as a result of a viral video of him at The Church of God in Christ’s annual convocation, in which he proclaims that he had been delivered from homosexuality.” The “ShakeUP” interview, the suit claims, was a fabricated effort to come up with a “story line” for Caldwell’s new role on “The Gospel Truth.”
The “ShakeUP” interview lives on online, the suit states.
“Although they are well aware that Mr. Caldwell has admitted that he lied on ‘The ShakeUP,’ Defendant Catalyst Next continues to proudly share and broadcast the interview on their website online…although they know that the statements concerning Mr. Stewart are false. As a result of the Defendants’ continuous intentional and malicious conduct, Mr. Stewart has been subject to public embarrassment and ridicule as the statements have operated to impair his career, damage his reputation and cause acute anguish to him and his family.”
Stewart seeks “general and special damages for … loss of earnings, emotional distress and impairment to his reputation.”
