Despite the money, it’s tough being a world-famous celebrity. There’s the paparazzi, the tabloids, and the stalkers. Plus, you become a target for some of the oddest lawsuits. Just ask Beyoncé, who’s been the subject of bizarre allegations.
For example, in October 2012 Naomi Riches, “d/b/a Naomi Leatherman,” sued Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z in federal court in Texas for “1,000,000,000 Billion dollars” for supposedly violating her civil rights. Regardless of whether Riches meant $1 billion or $1 quintillion, she claimed Beyoncé and Jay-Z were guilty of inflicting emotional and mental distress — and copyright infringement.
She said the singers used a “Stimoceiver” implanted in her brain when she was a toddler to take her thoughts and turn them into music. “They have intentionally put me through severe emotional and pscyhological [sic] distress to ensure music can be made from my thoughts.” Beyoncé and Jay-Z, of course, “don’t want anyone to know they are working in cahoots wiht the CIA in order to produce mass music for corporations.”
Moreover, the singers conspired with then-President Barack Obama. Riches said she was “being offered as an Illuminati sacrifice.” Additionally, the trio continually monitored her to “shock me remotely into forced sexual acts.” As “proof,” she attached a copy of an ultrasound of her “failing” kidney (doctors said there was nothing wrong with her). On it, she wrote, “I demand a new kidney. How can I live to take care of my child when Beyonce & JayZ [sic]want me to die?”
The day after it was filed, a federal magistrate recommended dismissing the lawsuit because the allegations were “fanciful and delusional.” The magistrate also noted the claims were similar to earlier lawsuits filed by Jonathan Lee Riches, the G.O.A.T. of frivolous lawsuits. It met the same outcome as Jonathan’s. The federal district judge adopted the recommendations and dismissed the lawsuit.
At least two other lawsuits identify Naomi and Jonathan as husband and wife. But several sources suggest Naomi is just another avatar of Jonathan Riches. Naomi’s court filings may support that:
- Twelve days before suing Beyoncé, Naomi Leatherman, “d/b/a Naomi Riches,” made similar allegations against President Obama in a federal court lawsuit in Delaware that sought damages and treatment for her kidney.
- Just three days before suing Beyoncé, Riches d/b/a Leatherman she sued Casey Anthony, acquitted three months earlier in the 2008 death of her daughter, in federal court in Florida. Riches alleged Anthony was “an Illuminati actress who was [sic] used the summers of 2009-2011 to mock and harass my current circumstances.”
- One day before suing Beyoncé, Leatherman d/b/a Riches filed what was essentially the Delaware suit against Obama in federal court in Pennsylvania.
- Naomi Riches (no “d/b/a”) returned to federal court in Pennsylania on November 6, 2012, to sue “Hurricane Sandy, a/k/a Frankenstorm” for $50 million under the False Claims Act and the Whistleblowers Act. Ignoring how a hurricane could pay damages, she also sought an injunction against the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) because it engineered the hurricane.
It’s no surprise that all these pro se lawsuits were dismissed.
But Riches wasn’t the only person to make extraordinary claims against Beyoncé. I’ll look at another in the next Loco Lawsuits.
i will file a lawsuit against the dictionaries first thing tomorrow morning. we’re going to tear merriam a new asshole and throw webster inside of it.
“Gideon,” Will Grayson, Will Grayson, John Green and David Levithan
