Can Everyone Please Stop Suing Me
Andrew Thorn of “Greenback Capital" threatens Webworm... six years later.
Hi,
Over the last six years on Webworm, I have developed a working theory that shitheads tend to attract other shitheads.
I felt this strongly in the leadup to the release of Mister Organ. As Organ took me to court in an attempt to stop my documentary’s release, Sean Plunket appeared like a wet fart. More recently, after writing about Anna Wilding’s failed run for congress, her husband James Sved popped up like a fresh pimple – taking me to court and calling the American cops on me.
Now, a new legal threat... from an old Webworm nemesis.
Maybe it’s a co-incidence, but five days after I first wrote about James Sved and Anna Wilding’s legal threats, Andrew Thorn appeared with threats of his own.
If that name doesn’t ring a bell, I’m not surprised.
I last wrote about Thorn in 2020, not long after I’d launched Webworm. Back then, I wrote about a chaotic “$100,000 money drop” that went feral, and how Thorn had allegedly tried to run a business colleague over with his car.
I wrote those pieces in a much looser way than I write today, but I stand by my words. I followed that up with a Part 2, looking at Thorn’s colourful and questionable history as a music promoter. That story included a line from Thorn that I still giggle at sometimes: "We do a lot, per se, in the shadows."
My reporting six years ago ended with him sending me this DM:
Things went quiet for six years, until I started writing about Wilding’s legal threats in March. Suddenly, Thorn appeared out of the blue – asking for an address where he could serve me legal documents.
For some reason he thought I lived in New Zealand (does he not listen to Flightless Bird?), listing the address of a house I’d once rented in Auckland. That was on March 30. I didn’t reply, because there was no point.
About a month later – a new email:
It’s a weird one. Usually people send cease and desists to Webworm – like Dr Dan in 2021, who was posting about "alternative" Covid treatments including hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin and hydrogen peroxide.
But in this case, Thorn was telling me that if I did not magic up a lawyer for him to serve papers to, he would do some “advertising in New Zealand” and seek an alternative way to serve me legal documents.
I have no idea what he’s angry about – six years on – but I’m curious.
Whether this was triggered by me writing about someone else’s legal threats, I don’t know. But in my theory of shitheads attracting other shitheads, I can’t help but wonder.
And if any shitheads happen to be reading this – I implore you to read about the “Streisand Effect”. Like, for your own good. I interviewed the man who coined the term 20 years ago, and it would be super helpful for you to grasp the concept.
As for what else Thorn is up to? He currently calls himself a "serial entrepreneur and founder" on social media, and is listed as the director at Caelum Technologies ("building the next generation of AI-Native systems").
There are so many weird things that happen in the background of Webworm – so many time-sucks I never banked on when I started this thing – that I wanted to let you in on this one.
I’m curious to hear about the shitheads in your life. We all have them, in various ways. Tell me about yours.
Thanks for being here. Stay sane and stay safe,
David.
