Transgender military pilot sues right-wing influencer for falsely linking her to DC plane crash
Transgender pilot Jo Ellis sued right-wing influencer Matt Wallace for falsely linking her to fatal crash
National Guard pilot Jo Ellis has filed a defamation lawsuit against right-wing influencer Matt Wallace, accusing him of spreading false claims that she was involved in a deadly mid-air crash in January.
According to The New York Times, the lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, April 9. Ellis, 35, alleged that Wallace launched a “destructive and irresponsible defamation campaign” against her after falsely naming her as the pilot of a military helicopter that collided with a commercial American Airlines flight in Washington, D.C.
The crash claimed the lives of 67 people, and Ellis told NBC News she plans to donate any damages awarded to the families of the victims.
“I want to hold this person accountable for what they did to me,” Ellis said in a statement to NBC News. “It’s become too common that people can say horrible things about someone, profit at their expense, and get away with it.”
Court documents reveal that Wallace, who has over 2.2 million followers on X (formerly Twitter), first posted the false claim on January 30, alongside a photo of Ellis. Although he deleted the original post, he continued sharing two more that further linked Ellis to the incident. One of the posts suggested the crash was part of “another trans terror attack” and went on to gather over 4.8 million views.
Also read: Hudson River helicopter crash: Witness recalls horror, says he ‘heard, saw a big splash'
Ellis responded
In response to the viral misinformation, Ellis released a video on Facebook on January 31, describing the claims as completely false and asking for the rumours to end.
“It is insulting to the families to try to tie this to some sort of political agenda,” Ellis said in the video. “They don’t deserve that. I don’t deserve this. And I hope that you all know that I am alive and well, and this should be sufficient for you all to end all the rumors.”
Following Ellis’ statement, Wallace shared her video on X, labeling it as an “important update.” He acknowledged she was not the pilot, but defended his earlier posts by claiming the rumors “seemed credible” because Ellis had “written an article calling out Trump’s trans military ban only a few days ago.”
The Army later confirmed the identities of the three crew members involved in the Black Hawk crash as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, and Capt. Rebecca Lobach. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described them as a “fairly experienced crew.”
