Mark Waid's Move to Dismiss Lawsuit: Did He Forget, or Did He Lie?

The latest twist in the case of MEYER VS. WAID, which alleges comics writer Mark Waid engaged in tortious interference (more about that here), has been filed by his attorney, Mark S. Zaid. Zaid has filed a motion for dismissal, based on the claims that the suit is filed in the wrong jurisdiction, citing that Waid is a citizen of Calfornia, and has no business contacts in Texas. Specifically, in places, the motion states:

"Plaintiff brought this suit against Mr. Waid, a California citizen with no contacts with Texas..."

"Plaintiff's Complaint fails to identify any allegegations or facts establishing any connection between Mr. Waid and Texas."

"Mr. Waid had no knowledge that Antarctic Press had any operations in or connection to Texas; Mr. Waid did not know where Antarctic Press was located (having retrieved only a phone number from industry contacts), and Mr. Waid did not and does not know where the person with whom he spoke lived, whether in Texas or elsewhere."

This motion was filed with the courts on November 2, 2018. The alleged incident, which resulted in Antarctic Press pulling their publishing deal for JAWBREAKERS: LOST SOULS, occured on May 11, 2018.

However, on May 25 through May 27 of 2018, Mark Waid was in the state of Texas, conducting business as a guest at Comicpalooza in Houston. Now, being a guest -- and, presumably, a paid one, given Waid's status in the industry -- is a tenuous way of claiming he does business in the state. But it's Waid's own words, recorded while on a panel at this event, exactly two weeks after the Antarctic Press deal fell through, that have created a conflict with his statements to the court. Specifically:

"There was a publisher here in Texas that was going to publish their comic. There was a huge amount of hatred toward that publisher at the moment. Most people in comcis, most fans of comics, were looking at this as, "What are you doing? These are indefensible human beings! They harass women! They harass minorities! They harass LGBTQ people! They are full of hate! What are you doing?" My feeling is, let the baby have his bottle. I don't care who publishes a comic. I don't care whether you publish his comic or not. I don't care. But I knew the publisher and I don't think he was aware why all of a sudden there was this gigantic groundswell of hate toward him."

These statements, recorded and broadcast on the Bry-Fy Podcast (Episode 232), are a direct contradiction of what Waid's attorney tells the court. Which begs the obvious question: Did Waid forget that he "knew the publisher" and that the publisher was "here in Texas," or did he lie to his attorney when crafting the motion to dismiss?

The case is awaiting a trial date and, at this time, the court has not ruled on the motion to dismiss.