The PR stunt/blatant shakedown that so many tech journalists fell for is now apparently over. Just one business day after the conclusion of Jason Calacanis’ Launch Conference he’s filed a court document asking for the dismissal of the lawsuit he filed last summer. This wasn’t a settlement. In fact, we didn’t know anything about it until our lawyers got a copy in the mail.
What really disappoints me is how gullible our competitors are. For example, the otherwise respectable Atlantic wrote an entire story on our refusal to cover his event. And while I think that it would be more than appropriate for us to skip an event where the organizer is suing us, actively trashing us and “borrowing” the TechCrunch name, we never had any such policy. One TechCrunch editor attended, writers were attending via the free live video stream, and we covered the startups we thought were noteworthy. We certainly never told anyone they would never be covered on TechCrunch if they attended. The reporter just bought whatever Jason was feeding him.
There are dozens more stories I could bore you with, but I won’t. You can read my initial response to his threats here. Like I said then, his accusations were without merit, as was his lawsuit.
I’m glad that we are no longer on the receiving end of one of his ridiculous controversy-creating outbursts. Good luck to you, Jason. I sincerely mean that. If you finally find the success you’ve been looking for, perhaps you’ll no longer feel compelled to tear down everyone around you.