Bobby Kotick, who led Activision Blizzard for over 30 years before retiring in 2023, has filed a defamation lawsuit against G/O Media in Delaware Superior Court. The lawsuit specifically names Kotaku and Gizmodo, two publications owned by G/O Media, for articles they published about Kotick on March 11, 2025.
The articles in question reported on rumors that “Kotick was interested in buying TikTok in the United States.” However, according to Kotick’s complaint, these articles unnecessarily included references to workplace misconduct allegations that had been withdrawn and disproven.
“Neither article had anything to do with Activision,” Kotick states in his complaint. “Both were about rumors that Kotick was interested in buying TikTok. Yet, Kotaku and Gizmodo went out of their way to include withdrawn, false allegations relating to workplace issues.”
Kotick claims these publications deliberately mentioned these allegations “purely for the malicious purposes of causing further harm” to his reputation. As reported by Courthouse News Service, Kotick and his representatives repeatedly asked G/O Media to correct the articles, including removing a headline that called him a “disgraced” CEO.
In response to these requests, Gizmodo removed the word “disgraced” from its headline, and both publications updated their articles with details about a settlement between Activision Blizzard and the California Civil Rights Department. This $54 million settlement, finalized in December 2023, stated that “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations” of systemic harassment at the company or that senior executives “ignored, condoned or tolerated” such behavior.
Despite these updates, Kotick maintains that the articles still “mischaracterize” the agreement. He is now seeking damages, with the specific amount to be determined at trial.
The lawsuit comes just one month after Kotick made controversial statements on a podcast hosted by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. During this appearance, he referred to the multiple legal actions against Activision Blizzard as “fake lawsuits” and dismissed a 2021 petition signed by over 1,800 employees calling for his resignation as “fake.”
Kotick also claimed that the Communications Workers of America union had orchestrated Activision Blizzard’s legal troubles to increase unionization support. “They came up with this plan, hired a PR firm, and they started attacking our company,” he said.
The Communications Workers of America denied these allegations, pointing out that Kotick himself had previously apologized for inappropriate workplace conduct that occurred under his leadership following Activision Blizzard’s $18 million settlement with the Employment Opportunity Commission.
Additionally, the ABK Workers Alliance, a union of Activision Blizzard employees, publicly rejected Kotick’s characterization of events. “The trauma, discrimination and abuse that our coworkers and former coworkers endured is not fake or a ‘plan to drive union membership,'” the alliance stated on social media platform X.
While Kotick was CEO, Activision Blizzard agreed to multiple settlements regarding workplace misconduct allegations, including the $54 million agreement with the California Civil Rights Department, an $18 million settlement with the Employment Opportunity Commission, and a $35 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
As of now, representatives for both Kotick and G/O Media have not provided comments on the ongoing case.
