James Woods demands $10m from Twitter troll for 'coke addict' claim

Yes, making crap up on the internet has consequences

Actor James Woods is suing a Twitter troll for wrongly branding him a "cocaine addict." Woods, who says he is not a drug addict, wants $10m in damages.

The Hollywood star's legal eagles have this week filed suit in the Los Angeles Superior Court against the whoever is behind the Twitter account "Abe List" over a July 15 tweet that read "cocaine addict James Woods still sniffing and spouting." The message was then tagged with both Woods' official account and that of columnist Ben Shapiro.

Both the tweet and the Able List account, which had 2,000 followers, have since been deleted, though the lawsuit alleges the remarks were broadcast to "hundreds of thousands" of Woods' followers.

Twitter was not named as a defendant in the case. The legal complaint [PDF] alleges defamation and invasion of privacy.

It's claimed that the Abe List account has spent years attacking Woods in what lawyers termed a "smear campaign" against the Casino actor.

"Although [Abe List's] rantings against Woods began with childish name-calling, it has clearly escalated beyond the protections of free speech, and [Abe List] must now be held to account for the millions in damages he has caused," Woods' lawyers said.

The lawsuit, which lists 10 unnamed defendants, claims at least one of them is a resident of Los Angeles County in the US who directly posts the Abe List tweets. The other nine individuals are accused of "assisting" the author by providing gossip and rumors about Woods.

In addition to the untrue allegations of Woods being a cocaine addict, the complaint alleges the Able List author has at various times referred to the actor as a "prick," "joke," "scum," "ridiculous," and a "clown boy."

As compensation, Woods is seeking ten million bucks in damages jointly from the "John Doe" defendants. His lawyers say the individuals will be named once attorneys can uncover their identities. ®