UPDATE: According to documents filed in Court on Friday, the suit has been “withdrawn as to all defendants without costs to any party.”
The Drunk Brian France Twitter account has not be shut down.
UPDATE 4-18-2020: A settlement in Brian France’s suit against a parody Twitter account appears to be close. The following statement was tweeted Saturday morning from the account:
“Brian France was not and never has been associated, affiliated or in any way involved with this Twitter account or any of the content generated and/or posted by it.”
“I will be permanently deactivating and deleting this account. I understand this account harmed Brian France and his family in ways never intended, and for that I am sorry.”
— Drunken Brian (@DrunkBrianF) April 18, 2020
In addition, a filing was made in Connecticut court on Friday. that stipulated “the parties are otherwise engaged in settlement discussions and wish to avoid incurring unnecessary attorneys’ fees”.
ORIGINAL POST 3-5-2020: From Matt Weaver at Autoweek: Former NASCAR CEO Brian France has filed a lawsuit against the operator of a parody Twitter account that goes by the name “Drunken Brian France.”
The litigation was filed in Stamford, Connecticut, on Feb. 28 and alleges that user John Steele is impersonating, harassing and targeting the third-generation former NASCAR leader. The account can be found at @DrunkBrianF.
“Steele’s activity through @drunkbrianf is under the guise of (Brian France),” the suit reads. “This includes the use of (France’s) name in the account name, the account handle and the use of a photograph of (France) as the account profile picture.
“Steele’s tweets imply that (France) is the source of the content posted to the account. Steele’s use of the account is intended to deceive other Twitter users—and anyone else accessing the account while online—to believe that the account belongs to (France).”
Drunken Brian France has been active since February 2014 and has long described itself as a parody account. It occasionally provides insider speculation and opinions to over 15,000 followers.