TEEN Mom Briana DeJesus has hired a new lawyer to help take down Kailyn Lowry at an upcoming court hearing in their defamation case.
Kailyn, 29, sued Briana, 27, for defamation in June after she claimed the star “physically beat” her baby daddy Christopher Lopez and broke into the home of his mother.
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The feuding Teen Mom 2 stars have a court hearing set for March 29 to rule on Briana’s anti-slapp motion, which protects a person’s freedom of speech, that was filed in August to have the case dismissed.
The Sun can exclusively reveal the Nevada-based law firm Randazza Legal Group, who is representing Briana, filed an “admission to appear” for attorney Trey A. Rothell.
The attorney is a member of the Randazza Legal Group and “requested permission to appear in this court for this cause only,” as he is not a member of the Florida Bar, where the case is taking place.
A judge has yet to rule on the request.
The mom of two strengthening her legal team comes just a month before her court showdown with Kailyn on March 29.
KAIL SUES BRIANA
In Kail’s initial complaint against Briana filed in June, her legal team claimed that her co-star’s comments are false and were made “for the purpose of causing Lowry harm.”
Kailyn then went into their long-standing feud in the court papers filed on June 25, which began when Briana joined Teen Mom 2 in 2017.
Kailyn claimed Briana “has a history of making false public statements regarding Lowry’s family life,” including when she allegedly responded to a Twitter user “[Lowry] gets beat the f**k up by Chris in front of her kids.”
Kailyn mentioned in the lawsuit when she was excluded from the June 8, 2021, Teen Mom 2 episode.
Briana claimed she wasn’t included because she allegedly “committed violent, physical crimes towards Mr. Lopez. Defendant also asserted that Lowry was arrested for breaking and entering into the home of Mr. Lopez’s mother.”
Briana alleged Kailyn “didn’t want to film” about the alleged incident.
Kailyn claimed she did not break into Chris’ mother’s home or beat him up.
She claimed the statements “threatened” her “ability to earn a living” and that she suffered “personal humiliation and mental anguish.”
She requested $30,000, reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees, and a jury trial.
BRI FIGHTS BACK
In Briana’s response, her attorney claimed his client could not have defamed Kailyn with “false” stories because she was arrested for the alleged assault on her ex.
The attorney wrote: “She verifiably was arrested for this, and her arrest garnered media attention.”
Briana’s lawyer called Kailyn’s lawsuit “meritless” and demanded the entire lawsuit be dismissed.
Also in the court documents, Kailyn alleged Briana claimed she obtained the arrest information from “credible source” Chris, 27.
Briana also credited the source of the information as “production,” meaning the producers and crew that film Teen Mom 2.
The Sun was the first to report on Kailyn’s offensive touching charges against Chris, which were later dropped.
Chris shares sons Lux, 4, and Creed, 1, with Kailyn, who has two other sons from previous relationships.
TREADMILL DRAMA
The Anti-Slapp hearing has been postponed multiple times and has been a source of contention between the enemies.
As The Sun previously reported, Briana’s lawyer provided their email exchange discussing the request to postpone the hearing in court papers.
Kailyn’s lawyer Nicole Haff’s alleged email to Marc Randazza sent on December 15 read: “We are a fairly laid back office and usually, we grant these… This, however, is an unusual case, and your client can ask the court for an adjournment. Ms. Lowry does not consent.”
Nicole explained how Kailyn’s ex and third baby daddy Chris Lopez’s declaration, where he admitted to spending time with Briana in Miami, was executed on November 2.
But Marc didn’t file it until the night before Thanksgiving to “presumably upset” Kailyn before the holiday.
She then wrote that Briana informed Kail via social media that she would be sending her a “surprise.”
The email continued: “The surprise was a treadmill. When read with the message, a reasonable reader would view it as your client calling my client overweight.
“If your client wants favors from my client, she should stop antagonizing her and perhaps issue an apology for the very statements she made which is the focus of this lawsuit.”
He responded in the email: “The treadmill, well I had nothing to do with that. That seems like an awfully expensive thing to send to someone as an insult. If Ms. Lowry doesn’t want it, I could stand to lose a few pounds myself.”
In the continuance filing, Marc ripped Kailyn and her lawyer for refusing to approve his continuance.
The filing read of Chris’ statement: “Plaintiff’s counsel then makes the wild leap that the fact that it got filed on November 24 was an attempt to upset the Plaintiff. This simply makes no sense. There is nothing in the affidavit that a reasonable person would consider to be ‘upsetting.’
“The timing was the unfortunate result of incompetence, but hardly a fiendish plot to upset Ms. Lowry. It is not a reason to deny a reasonable request for a continuance because a party claims to have been upset by the filing of an affidavit.
“This is the Plaintiff acting with spite, and the attorneys not insisting on being a buffer between client spite and professional conduct.”
He then brought up the treadmill and Kailyn’s lawyer claimed Briana is implying her client is “overweight.”
Marc continued in the filing: “Seriously? This degree of pettiness and schoolyard conduct should find its way into a CLE about how and why the modern practice of law is so uncivil.
“This should have been embarrassing to commit to writing. The reason the Plaintiff’s counsel will not agree to a reasonable continuance is because one party believes that a gift from the other was part of a spat over their respective waistlines.
“Spitefulness is not a reason to deny a reasonable request for a professional courtesy.”
In December, Kailyn posted about receiving the treadmill.
She wrote on Instagram: “Update on the dog room: @BrianaSoto thank you so much for the treadmill. My dogs will love it & I’m lazy so now I don’t have to walk them myself.”
KAIL GOES SILENT
Then earlier this month, Kailyn’s legal team filed a motion to “quash,” which means to make void, a subpoena to testify at the upcoming hearing.
Kailyn’s lawyer claimed they received a subpoena for her to testify at the hearing via email instead of being served in person, which does not comply with Florida rules.
The filing also claimed the upcoming hearing “may not be used as a substitute for trial.”
The docs continued: “It is improper to take testimony in order to decide whether to grant a motion for summary judgment.
“[Briana] is intentionally and improperly attempting to circumvent the rules and applicable law by forcing [Kailyn] to appear at a non-evidentiary hearing. Defendant’s actions are unreasonable and oppressive.”
A judge has not ruled on Kailyn’s request yet.
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