Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Professional athletes tend to earn a salary that makes them a pretty attractive target for lawsuits, and Sauce Gardner landed in court courtesy of a Bills fan who sued him for claiming she had an OnlyFans while trading words on social media last year. However, he’s walked away with a legal victory as well as the sizeable check he’ll be getting from the plaintiff who may regret the decision to take him to court.
Social media has made it easier than ever to interact with the many professional athletes who use the various platforms at their disposal to build their Personal Brand while occasionally connecting with the fans who are largely responsible for helping them amass a sizeable follower count.
There are plenty of big names who have opted to delegate the operation of the accounts they’re essentially required to have in order to avoid being exposed to the trolls who can’t resist the urge to slide into their comments and DMs to spread some negativity.
However, there are others who are more than happy to wade into the trenches and are not afraid to say what’s on their mind while trading verbal blows with people who come at them. Kevin Durant is probably the most notable example thanks to his reputation as a terminally online poster who seemingly does it for the love of the game, but he’s far from the only person who’s not afraid to clap back at their haters.
Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner found himself on the receiving end of a lawsuit after doing exactly that last year, and he got the last laugh after his attempt at a joke led to him dealing with a bit of a headache.
A Bills fan who sued Sauce Gardner for claiming she had an OnlyFans has to pay him over $50,000 after losing thet lawsuit
Sauce Gardner is one of the many professional athletes who don’t play golf for a living but have a serious passion for the game, and in 2024, he decided to take his pursuit of that pastime to the next level by installing a simulator in his house.
The CB posted a picture of the equipment that was used to construct it on August 21, 2024 in a now-deleted tweet where he asked, “Do I even have to say what I’m getting built at my new house?” That drew a response from Kalli Mariakis, a Buffalo Bills fan who resides in Mississippi, who said, “A simulator to teach you how not to commit pass interference or defensive holding.”
That was an objectively solid zing that caught Gardner’s attention before he decided to respond with a tweet where he implied Mariakis privately sent him a link to her OnlyFans profile.
It may not have been an incredibly egregious response, but it was still a somewhat out-of-pocket remark that led to Mariakis responding to clarify she does not, in fact, have an OnlyFans account before deciding to sue Gardner (as well as Barstool Sports, which covered the exchange in a now-deleted 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”)
According to Sportico, Mariakis cited the emotional distress she suffered after “acquaintances, friends, family, co-workers and the public at large” referenced the tweet before she filed the defamation lawsuit in New Jersey at the end of 2024.
Gardner’s attorney argued his client intended to be “lighthearted” with a response that was positioned as mutual “trolling” while going as far as to argue it should not be taken seriously because it was posted on The Platform Formerly Known As Twitter, a place where they claimed “readers have a reduced expectation of truth.”
The judge overseeing the case ultimately agreed that Garnder should not be held liable, and on Thursday, a dispute over the expenses he sought to recoup after defeating the lawsuit over the summer was ended when the judge overseeing the proceedings ordered Mariakis to fork over $51,636.45 “in attorneys’ fees and costs.”
Ouch.