Overview

• Jo Ellis filed a defamation lawsuit in April in federal court in Colorado against influencer Matthew S. Wallace over false claims that she caused the January helicopter crash.
• Wallace, a cryptocurrency promoter with more than 2.3 million followers on X, kept sharing baseless allegations and misgendering Ellis even after she posted a proof-of-life video.
• Advocates report at least a dozen incidents since 2022 in which transgender people were wrongly accused of violence following major tragedies.
• Researchers say these smear campaigns exploit anti-trans sentiment on social media and create serious personal security risks for those targeted.
• Ellis’s case is now viewed as a critical test of legal accountability for online defamation and could shape future efforts to curb harmful misinformation.