Country singer and YouTube personality Ryan Upchurch has lost a major defamation lawsuit after a federal jury awarded $17.5 million to the family of a California teenager whose death became the subject of online conspiracy theories.
Videos by Suggest
The case centered on videos that Upchurch posted about Kiely Rodni, a 16-year-old girl who disappeared in August 2022 after attending a party near Tahoe National Forest in California. Investigators later found Rodni dead inside her submerged SUV in a nearby lake. Authorities ruled her death an accident and found no evidence of foul play.
Rodni’s father, Daniel Rodni, and grandfather, David Robertson, filed the lawsuit against Upchurch in federal court in Nashville in 2023. The family argued that Upchurch defamed them in a video titled “ZERO proof of Kiely Rodni situation being REAL.”
In the video, Upchurch suggested that Rodni’s disappearance and death formed part of a scam connected to online fundraising efforts through GoFundMe. Attorneys for the family argued that the claims spread rapidly online and intensified the family’s grief during a traumatic period.
Ryan Upchurch Hit With $17.5 Million Suit
Attorney Chris Smith, who represented members of Rodni’s family, said the videos gained hundreds of thousands of views and left the family feeling “powerless and victimized.”
The jury ultimately ruled in favor of the family and awarded $17.5 million in damages against Upchurch. Reports later stated that the court also awarded an additional $500,000 in punitive damages during a later phase of the proceedings.
Following the verdict, attorneys representing Upchurch released a public statement expressing sympathy for Rodni’s relatives. The statement did not directly address the jury’s decision or indicate whether Upchurch plans to appeal the judgment.
“The freedom of speech is one of the most fundamental rights that is necessary for every free society, and that right is one that needs protecting now more than ever,” the statement began.
“While Mr. Upchurch is a staunch advocate for the United States Constitution and the rights that so many veterans fought and died for, Mr. Upchurch can be that advocate and also feel sympathy for a family in their time of grief.”