By BILL HETHERMAN
A woman sued by an author of horror fiction books for at least $2.5 million, alleging she libeled him on Twitter in 2021 by falsely saying he had sexually harassed more than 20 women, says in a sworn statement that he sent her unsolicited sexually oriented messages.
The woman, Cassie Daley, says that based on her own experiences with plaintiff Matt Hayward, what at least 10 other people have come forward and said about him and what she learned through other sources, she “felt confident — and still do — that Mr. Hayward sent inappropriate sexual messages to at least 20 women.”
Daley’s declaration was filed in connection with her request to be allowed to file a motion to dismiss Hayward’s suit on free-speech grounds. She says she lives in Fair Oaks in Sacramento County and is a “freelance artist and horror book reviewer,” lives on a “tight budget” and posts on a blog, Instagram and Twitter about horror literature as part of a “community of horror literature enthusiasts and authors.”
Hayward’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Daley also alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress. Hayward seeks general and special damages totaling $2.5 million, punitive damages and an injunction requiring Daley to delete the statement and not post similar remarks in the future.
“This matter concerns the egregious and completely false defamation of a highly respected and well-regarded author,” the suit filed Jan. 14 states. “Without any basis in fact, defendant Daley stated on Twitter that Hayward sexually harassed 20-plus women.”
A copy of Daley’s Dec. 8 posting is attached to the complaint.
“The statement is libelous on its face because it charges Hayward with illegal conduct such as sexual harassment,” the suit states. “Daley’s defamatory statement was either known by her to be false or she acted in reckless disregard of the truth and the rights of Hayward when she wrote and published the statement.”
Hayward, who lives in Ireland, has suffered loss of business opportunities and harm to his reputation, according to the suit.
But in her declaration filed Thursday, Daley says the statements that Hayward maintains are libelous pertain to messages that he sent her in 2019.
“Mr. Hayward would send me creepy, sexual messages … and that he couldn’t help it because I was ‘just incredibly hot,”‘ Daley says.
Hayward coupled his comments with “pseudo-apologies that were really excuses and often contained more creepy sexual comments in the same sentence as the apology,” according to Daley.
“These messages were, to say the least, unwelcome and made me feel very uncomfortable, but I tried to remain civil,” according to Daley.
Daley further says she later learned that other women had been sent sexual messages by Hayward, convincing her that it was important to speak out.
“I continued to receive messages about Mr. Hayward sending unsolicited sexual messages for quite some time after that,” Daley says. “In all, at least 10 people came forward to me via direct messages on social media, mostly via my old Instagram account.”
Daley also referred to a June 2020 blog post by horror author Brian Keene stating that his wife, Mary SanGiovanni, had also received inappropriate messages from Hayward.
“As with my experience, Mr. Hayward excused his behavior by saying that he had been inebriated,” Daley says. “When I found out I was being sued, I was scared and spoke to a relative who is a paralegal in Florida who told me it was important to respond to complaints. I could not afford the filing fee for my answer, so I had to raise funds to be able to afford the fee, which was difficult because I could not tell people exactly why I needed the money. I also did not know how I could get to court 400 miles away and without a place to stay in Los Angeles.”
Daley’s request for permission to file the motion to dismiss Hayward’s case is scheduled to be heard Aug. 9 by Judge Kevin C. Brazile.
