Nick Rekieta of Rekieta Law and the host of the YouTube channel of the same name launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for Vic Mignogna’s legal defense fees.
The Go Fund Me comes after Vic Mignogna accused of sexual misconduct by a number of individuals. Following these allegations Mignogna was replaced by both Rooster Teeth and Funimation for his roles on RWBY and Morose Monokean II. Funimation also announced they would no longer be working with Mignogna in the future meaning Mignogna would more than likely not be reprising his role as Broly in Dragon Ball Super.
Mignogna has made multiple statements denying the allegations. He first denied the allegations on Twitter and then would deny them again at an appearance at Bak-Anime 2019. Mignogna would also be disinvited from a number of conventions.
Rekieta’s Go Fund Me states “This Fund is set up for Vic’s legal defense fees.” It goes on to state that Mignogna might be filing lawsuits against a number of individuals and corporations.
“There are MANY possible defendants in different jurisdictions, from boring bloggers to multi-million, even multi-billion dollar corporations. It takes an agile and experienced (read: not cheap) legal team to coordinate this kind of strategy.”
Rekieta does state that he is not representing Vic Mignogna.
“I AM NOT REPRESENTING VIC IN A LEGAL CAPACITY, but I am aware of the team who is and will coordinate this fund to pay for Vic’s legal fees. Litigation costs are highly dependent on the actions of your opponents, so I’m hoping to raise enough to account for that. We will announce the disposition of any extra funds candidly and provide updates on the usage of funds to the extent that such information can be made public.”
Rekieta explains why he set up the fund:
“You know Vic, whether you’ve supported Vic for years, or just recently found out about his situation, you know he’d never ask for this. That’s why I am doing this and he is not involved. He is thankful for prayers and support but, in my professional capacity as an attorney, I know this comes at significant financial cost.”
He would also declare:
“BUT IT’S TIME TO FIGHT BACK. Brigades of pseudo-anonymous keyboard warriors cannot be allowed to defame and destroy decades of goodwill on rumor and unverifiable allegation. Companies cannot rely on non-credible accusations and devastate a career for virtue points.”
Rekieta is aiming to raise $100,000. In an update he indicates that any excesses of the goal “will be donated to ‘one of the Salvation Army Dallas domestic violence and abuse shelters in Dallas County, Texas.” Rekieta notes he got “authorization from Vic” to donate the excesses to the Salvation Army.
Rekieta has taken to Twitter to advise GoFundMe that the campaign might be false flagged.
Trust me, false flagging or defaming a GoFundMe created by a lawyer, and going to the legal trust of a Team of wildly experienced litigators handling Vic’s case will not be taken lightly. https://t.co/VO9HZW0Qbw
— Rekieta Law: Speech is Free, but Lawyers Aren’t (@NickRekieta) February 20, 2019
Hey @gofundme I want to preemptively advise you that people are planning to maliciously and falsely flag my campaign https://t.co/f7d40TPdWq
I am a practicing and licensed attorney, I assure you everything is legitimate.
I will be requesting information from any attempts. https://t.co/vuUVKaGMgt
— Rekieta Law: Speech is Free, but Lawyers Aren’t (@NickRekieta) February 20, 2019
And I will expect your full cooperation in providing that information in pursuing potential conspiracy to interfere with the legal process and tortious interference with contract.
— Rekieta Law: Speech is Free, but Lawyers Aren’t (@NickRekieta) February 20, 2019
Do you plan on contributing to the GoFundMe?