Local DJ sues Springfield music promoter for defamation

Yahoo

12-04-2025

A Springfield disc jockey known as 'DJ Window Units' is suing a local music promoter, as well as a live music and concert venue, for defamation.
According to the petition filed in Greene County Circuit Court on Thursday, April 10, Timothy LaBrie, born 1993, is suing Thomas LLC (doing business as The Regency Live) and Johan Collins, a live music promoter and employee of The Regency Live, both of Springfield, for a personal injury lawsuit.
The five-count petition alleges that beginning in early 2024, LaBrie and defendant Collins were in a music project together called 'Special,' but the pair had a falling out, and their project dissolved on or around August of 2024.
For several months after the pair split, LaBrie worked at Springfield nightclub Martha's Vineyard to perform live shows as a DJ.
For background context, the petition alleges that over three years ago, Collins had received an email from an individual who told him that LaBrie was a 'prolific groomer of underage women.' At the time, Collins responded to the individual that this was a 'very strong statement that would need to be backed with proof' and that the allegations were 'definitely slander/defamation if not true,' the petition alleges.
On or around Jan. 2, 2025, months after LaBrie and Collins' music project dissolved, Collins created a Facebook post saying, 'If someone sends me proof of someone being a pedophile, even if it's five years later, I have to expose them I have no choice friend or not! I don't play with this accusation lightly and realize this can ruin people's lives, so can molesting a young girl!' the petition alleges.
The petition alleges that around Feb. 5, Collins created another Facebook post saying he was no longer working with LaBrie.
In March of 2025, Collins allegedly reshared a Facebook post written by a woman who wrote of allegations against LaBrie. The woman's post contained several screenshots of private messages between her and LaBrie, as well as a screenshot of the email she sent to Collins years earlier.
'Is this guy a pedophile?' the woman's lengthy post said about LaBrie. 'Legally no, but he is a terrible terrible person, a liar to all of his friends and his family, an abuser, a manipulator and not someone we should ever have in our community, especially around someone with 'access' to all these under 21yo [sic] girls to trick into his poly scheme.'
The petition alleges that on March 7, 2025, the woman's post about LaBrie was shared by Collins on his Facebook page with personal comments from Collins attached to the post. That day, Martha's Vineyard and Springfield company Midwest Audio Tech announced on social media that they were severing ties with LaBrie due to the allegations and posted 'proof' of the allegations.
On March 12, 2025, another local DJ created a blog post on Substack titled 'A Confession of un-St. James River: when u realize ur best friend is a groomer.' The petition alleges this Substack post labels LaBrie as a 'groomer' and a 'pedophile.' The petition alleges Collins reshared this post to his social media accounts.
The petition states LaBrie has never been charged for any sex-related crimes and as a result of Collins' alleged 'incessant defamatory posts,' LaBrie has suffered financial damages, reputational harm, emotional distress and fear for his physical safety.
Additionally, the petition claims The Regency Live was negligent in its hiring, training and supervising of its employees, and as a result, the business caused LaBrie to suffer reputational harm, severe emotional distress and loss of employment.
The summons for the case have not been issued yet.
Ozarks First reached out to The Regency Live for comment. There was no response as of this article's publishing.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.