We wouldn’t want to be Andrew Breitbart right about now.
That’s because Shirley Sherrod, the former Agricultural Department employee who was fired after Breitbart released a doctored video making her appear racist, is now suing him for damaging her reputation.
The video set off a media frenzy in July 2010, first as Sherrod lost her job and then as it was revealed that she was, in fact, telling a story about how she overcame racism to help a white farmer in need.
Breitbart has recently claimed that Sherrod was not fired because of his video but because of her part in the 11-year-old Pigford case, in which black farmers sued for discrimination against the Agriculture Department.
He stated such a claim again on Thursday in an interview with Media Matters, in which he admitted he had no proof of the assertion, revealing it was a theory.
Breitbart responded to Sherrod’s lawsuit Saturday with an online statement that said, in part:
“I find it extremely telling that this lawsuit was brought almost seven months after the alleged incidents that caused a national media frenzy occurred. It is no coincidence that this lawsuit was filed one day after I held a press conference revealing audio proof of orchestrated and systemic Pigford fraud. I can promise you this: neither I, nor my journalistic websites, will or can be silenced by the institutional Left, which is obviously funding this lawsuit. I welcome the judicial discovery process, including finding out which groups are doing so.”
