Former pro tennis player drops defamation case against two men

A retired professional tennis player has dropped his lawsuit against an architect and the businessman’s spouse, in which he alleged that their false statements in public that he was a wife-beater caused three private clubs to cancel his membership.

Lawyers for plaintiff Justin Gimbelstob filed court papers with Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Mark A. Young on Friday asking for dismissal of their client’s case against Richard Landry, president and founder of the Landry Design Group, and Landry’s spouse, Christopher Drugan.

The court papers did not state if a settlement was reached or if Gimelstob was not pursing the case for other reasons.

In late November, Young denied an anti-strategic litigation against public participation motion filed by the defendants, whose attorneys maintained in their court papers that the law prohibits Gimelstob’s “obvious efforts at chilling and punishing the free speech rights of Landry and Drugan through the filing of the instant lawsuit.”

The state’s anti-SLAPP law is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.

Young ruled, however, that there was sufficient evidence for a jury to infer that Landry and Drugan “harbored serious doubts as to the truth” of what they said.

The defendants admitted they were angry with Gimelstob after what they perceived as being dragged into the plaintiff’s divorce case and were further upset by Gimelstob’s alleged statements the day of the incident, the judge wrote.

In a sworn declaration filed Nov. 14, the 46-year-old Gimelstob said the fallout from the defendants allegedly defamatory remarks got him banned from the Brentwood Country Club — where the alleged defamation occurred — as well as the Jonathan Club and Beverly Hills Tennis Club.

Landry is a Canadian-born American architect. Known as the “King of the Megamansion,” he has designed many residences for celebrities.

Gimelstob is president of FBR Group, which specializes in the insurance needs of wealthy clients. He has raised more than $1 million through his Justin Gimelstob Children’s Fund, benefiting children with pediatric cancer, as well as other youth charities, the suit stated. After retiring as a professional tennis player in 2007, he became a broadcaster in the sport.

In August and September of 2020, Gimelstob was involved in an attorneys’ fees trial in his divorce case and he subpoenaed Landry to testify regarding a home being designed and constructed for the plaintiff’s ex-wife, the suit stated.

“The manner in which Landry was served with the subpoena and the substance of his ensuing trial testimony created significant resentment and hostility toward Gimelstob,” according to the suit.

A few weeks after Landry testified, Gimelstob went to the Brentwood Country Club to play tennis with two friends, one a member at Brentwood, the other a professional tennis player who had just returned from playing in the U.S. Open, the suit stated.

Gimelstob was a frequent guest at the club for many years, the suit stated. In mid-September 2020, Gimelstob was on a tennis court hitting tennis balls with one of the friends with whom he had gone to the club that day, the suit stated.

Gimelstob noticed that Landry and Drugan were playing on an adjacent court and at one point a tennis ball rolled into the corner of the plaintiff’s court, the suit stated. When Gimelstob went to retrieve it, he saw Landry near a fence, the suit stated. Gimelstob jokingly said to Landry, “Who’s better, you as an architect or me at tennis?” according to the suit.

“In response, Landry and Drugan immediately became enraged, (walked) toward Gimelstob (and) started hurling insults at him, (saying), “Get out of my club, you don’t belong here wife-beater, you’re a criminal, we don’t want you in our club,”‘ according to the suit, which is unclear whether one or both defendants made the alleged statements.

The remarks were loud enough for the wife and two young sons of Gimelstob’s friend to overhear, the suit stated.

Gimelstob was stunned by the remarks, but managed to go back to his own tennis practice area and he and his friend continued to play, the suit stated.

A short time later, Landry and Drugan were headed to a dinner when Drugan saw that Gimelstob and his friend were playing, walked within a few inches of the plaintiff and said, “Get out of my club, wife-beater. I dare you to hit me, I dare you. I know you’re on probation. Why don’t you hit me like you hit your wife and son? I dare you to hit me,” Gimelstob stated in his court papers.

Drugan’s alleged remarks were overheard by two of Gimelstob’s friends, including Nicholas Monroe, a professional tennis player with whom the plaintiff has worked and represented, according to Gimbelstob.

Landry and Drugan’s alleged statements were “made with the intent to harm Gimelstob both personally and professionally” as both were aware that accusing someone of domestic violence would substantially damage that individual’s personal and professional relationships, particularly given that Gimelstob is a high-profile person, the suit stated.