Credit: Tom Sofield/NewtownPANow.com
The defamation fight between a Doylestown man and the politically connected Newtown Athletic Club owner Jim Worthington has ended.
Gregory Bullough publicly apologized to Worthington for creating an online petition that called on community stakeholders to cut ties with Worthington’s Newtown Township fitness center. The petition said Worthington was behind busloads of rioters that took part in violent attacks on the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.
“I have never believed that Jim Worthington or the Newtown Athletic Club organized a bus trip for the purpose of promoting the violence and vandalism that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th,” Bullough said in a statement.
Bullough wrote he was “sorry” for intending to hurt Worthington, his family, and business. He also stated he had “regret” for impacts to the Newtown Athletic Club’s partners.
The dollar amount wasn’t released, but money was involved in the settlement. Bullough said he made a “substantial contribution” to the Newtown Athletic Club’s Have-A-Heart Foundation, which will put the money directly toward the care of a Northampton Township U.S. Navy pilot battling ALS.
“After I filed a lawsuit against the creator of the petition, he chose to apologize and donate to my charity. I wanted to share this apology with you so you can read it yourself. There is a lesson to be learned from this – the division in our public discourse is hurting our country at a time when we need to be united. We can disagree, and we can even disagree forcefully, but at the end of the day we are all members of this community, and we should treat each other with dignity and respect,” Worthington said in a statement.
Worthington has been a prominent supporter of former President Donald Trump and is close friends with Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick.
Worthington traveled to Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021 to see Trump, but he has condemned the attack that happened and has led to one of the largest law enforcement investigations in history of the nation.
Following the January 6 attack on the capitol, Worthington put out a statement that his political group People4Trump organized buses with about 200 people traveling from Bucks County to Washington D.C. to hear the outgoing president speak.
“Not one of them was near the Capitol entrance when the rioting took place nor were most of them aware of any activities at the capitol until after they got on the bus,” Worthington wrote in a statement on January 9, 2021.
While Worthington has not been shown to have any link to the attack on the U.S. Capitol, FBI special agents visited Worthington’s home in the days after. In a radio interview, as LevittownNow.com reported in 2021, Worthington told the hosts he contacted Fitzpatrick for advice on what to do.
Earlier this year, a similar lawsuit against current Democratic congressional candidate Ashley Ehasz and campaign firm Foglamp Digital was settled.
Worthington’s full statement:
“In the aftermath of the events of January 6, 2021, many supporters of President Trump were demonized simply for attending a peaceful rally at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, I was among those subjected to indiscriminate and untrue accusations, including as a result of an online petition which was interpreted as stating that I had sponsored and organized busloads of rioters to participate in violent attacks on the U.S. Capitol Building. When this petition was published, it not only resulted in a torrent of hatred and threats towards me and my family personally, but also did significant damage to my business, the Newtown Athletic Club (NAC).
“After I filed a lawsuit against the creator of the petition, he chose to apologize and donate to my charity. I wanted to share this apology with you so you can read it yourself. There is a lesson to be learned from this – the division in our public discourse is hurting our country at a time when we need to be united. We can disagree, and we can even disagree forcefully, but at the end of the day we are all members of this community, and we should treat each other with dignity and respect. Indeed, I echoed these same sentiments earlier this year when former Congressional Candidate Ashley Ehasz and her team publicly apologized for repeating false accusations about me during her campaign.”
Bullough’s full statement:
