Fyre owner John Mountain launches civil suit against vegan activist
The Fyre saga continues, with celebrity chef John Mountain now suing vegan activist Tash Peterson for defamation.
The dispute between Mountain and Peterson has been going on since July, when the restaurateur banned vegans from the venue after a dispute with a plant-based diner.
Peterson then took aim at the restaurant, staging what she called a “disruption”.
The militant activist was arrested and charged with the matter currently before the court.
While she faces criminal charges, Mountain is launching a civil case, claiming Peterson’s social media posts have brought “hatred, contempt and ridicule” against him.
“It needs to end completely and utterly and it’s not. She’s just constantly posting things,” Mountain told A Current Affair.
“It’s not from her direct that I’m getting issues. It’s from all the followers and the hundreds and thousands of people that look at her posts.
“So I’ve gone for suing her as full defamation. It is causing me huge amounts of distress.”
Mountain said he has received death threats as a result of the social media abuse.
“It’s not good, it’s not nice, it’s not funny at all,” he said.
The saga has had an emotional impact, with Mountain saying, “I put on a brave face. I work hard to try and keep my business going.
“I’ve had quite a couple of staff just leave because they can’t handle it. They just don’t want to put up with it.
“My mental health is not the best as it was before any of this, certainly not helped.
“Aside from all of that, I’m then getting hammered regularly on social media.
“We’ve had some great support. The support from the majority is fantastic.
“But, there’s these people underneath that are just not normal that just causing me more and more grief.”
Mountain said he had actually planned to create a plant-based restaurant named Urth, but has now shelved the idea.
“Now I’m only opening steak restaurants,” he said.
“I’m going to kill as many animals as I can.”
Jonathan Jackson, 18th September 2023
