Former porn-store clerk asks court to dismiss Mark Robinson’s defamation lawsuit, calling it ‘bizarre’

A former Greensboro-area adult video store employee, who was sued alongside CNN for defamation by Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, asked a Wake County judge on Wednesday to throw out the complaint.

The lawsuit might be seen less as a legal argument, and more “for the very purpose of creating media attention for Mr. Robinson’s campaign,” Louis Money, who was named in Robinson’s lawsuit on Tuesday, said in his motion. He also says Robinson is asking for too much money in damages, and that his argument is too weak.

Robinson, the North Carolina Republican Party’s nominee for governor, is seeking $50 million in damages, saying allegations made in reporting by CNN and by Money individually have damaged Robinson’s reputation and caused him mental anguish and anxiety.

CNN alleged that Robinson made numerous racist or sexually explicit comments in the chat section of pornographic website Nude Africa years ago, including praising slavery and Adolf Hitler, and calling himself a “Black Nazi.” Money told a local news magazine, The Assembly, that Robinson was a regular at the adult video store Money used to work at, coming in multiple times a week to watch or buy videos.

Robinson originally issued a full denial of the allegations. In the lawsuit, however, he acknowledged sometimes visiting Money’s store. But he said it was not nearly as frequently as Money described, and claimed that other details of Money’s story were wrong. Money has told WRAL in multiple interviews, both before and after Robinson sued him, that he stands by his story.

In the filing seeking to throw out Robinson’s lawsuit, lawyers representing Money wrote that the $50 million Robinson is asking for is well beyond what’s allowed under North Carolina law, and that it further fails to make a convincing legal argument. “The complaint contains many impertinent and bizarre allegations, meandering into two discussions of George Soros, conspiracies about media bias, and applauding Mark Robinson for lifting himself out of bankruptcy,” Money’s motion says.

One detail Robinson strongly denies is that he ever bought any videos directly from Money, who has said he used to make bootleg videos to sell on the side. That denial is included in Robinson’s lawsuit as an example of false claims Money is alleged to have made.

In an interview Wednesday, Money offered more allegations. “I went to his house one time, for him to pay me money for bootleg porn,” Money said in an interview with WRAL. “I went to his job once or twice. Every other time he came to my job.”

When pressed for proof, Money said he didn’t have any receipts. But he said he believes there are multiple people who can back up his story if the lawsuit goes to trial.

Robinson’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Money’s attempts to throw out the lawsuit. His campaign spokesman referred back to a statement released Tuesday announcing Robinson’s lawsuit, in which he wrote that “leftist media like CNN and grifters like Louis Love Money are salacious tabloid trash.”

CNN has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Robinson is running for governor against Democrat Josh Stein, the state’s sitting attorney general. Prior to the CNN report, Robinson had been trailing Stein in numerous polls, and some Republicans had concerns about Robinson’s impact on other races on the ballot.

Support for Robinson has weakened since the CNN report, polls show.

A Quinnipiac University Poll released Wednesday showed Stein leading Robinson by 12 points — 52% to 40%. An April Quinnipiac poll showed Stein leading Robinson by 8 points, 52% to 44%.

Robinson’s lawsuit postulates a coordinated national effort to destroy his campaign and reputation with false claims. Money said that’s not true.

“This ain’t political,” Money said. “This is a funny story. … I disagree with him politically, mainly his views on homosexuality. But on a personal level, I like the dude. I wouldn’t vote for him. But I like the dude.”

Robinson has a history of derogatory comments about the LGBTQ community. In 2021, he told a church congregation that no one should teach children in classrooms about “transgenderism, homosexuality — any of that filth.” Last year, Robinson said during a church service outside Charlotte that God created him specifically to fight against the push for LGBTQ rights and visibility, which he says is turning America into a “hellhole.”