Dominion Voting Sues MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for $1.3 Billion
Published Date: 2/22/2021
Source: Bloomberg Quicktake: Now
MyPillow Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mike Lindell boosted pillow sales by echoing Donald Trump’s false claim that a voting machine company rigged the election, according to a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit. Lindell, an outspoken Trump ally whose pillows were endorsed by the former president, repeated the bogus election-conspiracy theory for months despite knowing that no such fraud had occurred, Dominion Voting Systems Inc. said in a suit filed Monday in federal court in Washington. Dominion claims Lindell increased sales as much as 40% by pitching the “Big Lie” about the election on conservative media outlets, issuing promotional codes for his products like “FightForTrump,” “45,” and “QAnon,” the name of another debunked conspiracy theory that contends leading Democrats and celebrities are part of a satanic cult of sex-trafficking pedophiles. In 2019, MyPillow’s revenue exceeded $300 million, according to the lawsuit. The complaint is the latest in a series of multibillion-dollar court actions taken by voting-machine companies against high-profile Trump supporters, including Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, for spreading disinformation about voter fraud. Earlier this month, Fox Corp. canceled the Lou Dobbs Tonight show a day after the network and Dobbs were named in a $2.7 billion suit by Smartmatic Corp. Fox, Dobbs and other defendants called those claims meritless and have filed motions to dismiss the suits. Dominion warned Lindell in several letters in December and January to stop making false accusations about the company, according to the lawsuit. Lindell allegedly continued to do so, including by sponsoring the “March For Trump” bus tour across the U.S. that advertised the Jan. 6 rally in Washington to protest the election results. That rally turned into a deadly riot at the Capitol. Twitter banished Lindell in late January after persistently tweeting that Trump was the real winner of the presidential election, while retailers including Kohl’s Corp. and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. dropped MyPillow from their stores. “Despite repeated warnings and efforts to share the facts with him, Mr. Lindell has continued to maliciously spread false claims about Dominion, each time giving empty assurances that he would come forward with overwhelming proof,” Dominion CEO John Poulos said in a statement. “These claims have caused irreparable harm to Dominion’s good reputation and threatened the safety of our employees and customers.” Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake