Was the Sauce Too Spicy? New York Jets Player and Barstool Sports Named in Defamation and Emotional Distress Suit

On the football field, it's rare for a defensive player to receive a penalty for going out-of-bounds. In the realm of social media, different rules apply. A star cornerback may soon discover that lying carries punishments much harsher than 15 yards and a new set of downs.

Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, a professional football player with the New York Jets, and Barstool Sports, a digital media company, were named in a lawsuit filed by Kalli Mariakis on December 31, 2024. What do an All-Pro star New York athlete, a massive and successful sports brand, and a Buffalo Bills fan from Mississippi have in common? Let's find out.

Personal Foul - Unsportsmanlike Conduct

On the evening of August 21, 2024, Gardner posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) a picture showing boxes, a ladder, and construction equipment in an otherwise empty room along with the caption, "Do I even need to say what I'm getting built at my new house?"

A few hours later, Mariakis, a Buffalo Bills fan (a rival of Gardner's Jets), responded with what she characterized as a playful joke, "A simulator to teach you how not to commit pass interference or defensive holding.”

Gardiner responded the next day by posting, "I'm sure your husband wouldn't like it if I told him you dm'd me your OF link would he [sic]?" "OF" is a reference to a site called "OnlyFans," which is a content subscription platform featuring sexually explicit material. "Dm'd" refers to "direct messaging," which means private communication between two people that's not immediately available for public viewing.

Mariakis, who claims she neither DM'd Gardner nor has an OnlyFans account, made two separate posts on August 23, 2024, requesting that Gardner show proof of the alleged direct message. Gardner didn't respond to either post. At some point on August 23, his original response to Mariakis was deleted from his account.

At around noon on August 23, 2024, the digital media site Barstool Sports published an article titled, "If You're a Married OnlyFans Model Who's Been DMing Sauce Gardner, You'd Be Wise NOT to Troll Him About His Coverage Skill." The author, Jerry Thornton, recounted the exchange to the massive Barstool audience with no evidence that he'd bothered to confirm if she had an OnlyFans account. The Barstool article included a photo of Mariakis in a bikini.

Piling On

Gardner's X account has over 280,000 followers and Mariakis' reply drew over 9.5 million views. Barstool Sports is determined to have over 66 million unique monthly users. The suit claims that due to Gardner's false claim and Barstool's biased amplification of the incident to their massive audience, Mariakis and her family suffered continuous embarrassment and harassment.

The suit accuses Gardner of defamation and intentional affliction of emotional distress, as the defendant made a knowingly false statement intended to cast aspersions on the plaintiff's character. It goes on to accuse Barstool Sports, Inc. of defamation for the article's content, which implied that the existence of an OnlyFans site was factual.

In a move that speaks of either confidence or arrogance, the article was still live on the Barstool website as of January 9, 2025. While the plaintiff no doubt has a copy archived, leaving the focus of a lawsuit available seems a brazen stance.

Goal-Line Stand

At this point, it remains to be seen how the defendants will respond. Gardner signed a contract for $38.7 million in 2022, while estimates of Barstool Media's value are in the $500 million range. Mariakis seeks the following from the defendants:

• Compensatory damages
• Punitive damages
• Court costs and fees
• Costs and disbursements of this action, together with such other legal or equitable relief

Defamation law is notoriously tricky, and Mariakis carries the burden of proof to show how adversely the unwanted attention affected her and her family. While cases like this often settle out of court after lengthy negotiations, perhaps Mariakis can take immediate solace from her Bills heading into the NFL playoffs while Gardner's Jets are done for the year.

Related Resources

• How To Prove Emotional Distress (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
• Libel, Slander, and Defamation Law: The Basics (FindLaw's Torts and Personal Injury Law)
• Is Barstool Sports Treating Copyright Infringement Like a Game? (FindLaw's Legally Weird)