Kyle Rittenhouse has again backtracked on his support for the Los Angeles Lakers and is prepared to launch a defamation lawsuit against its biggest star, NBA icon LeBron James.
Rittenhouse was center to a global media frenzy late last year related to his high profile court case in which he was cleared of murder charges after he killed two men and wounded a third during anti-police demonstrations in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020.
The teenager took to the stand in his own defense to deliver emotional testimony in which he claimed that he acted in self-defence, and was subsequently cleared by a jury.
However, Rittenhouse later said that he was angered by James mocking his tears on the stand.
"What tears????? I didn't see one. Man knock it off! That boy ate some lemon heads before walking into court," wrote James, suggesting that Rittenhouse's emotional breakdown wasn't authentic but designed instead to draw sympathy from the jurors.
Rittenhouse subsequently said that he had renounced his support for James and the Lakers, telling The BlazeTV in December: "I liked LeBron. And, then I'm like, 'You know what, f*ck you, LeBron.' I was a Lakers' fan too, before he said that."
And speaking on a web broadcast hosted by Turning Point USA this week, Rittenhouse elaborated on the list of celebrities he plans on targeting with lawsuits - again suggesting that James could be hit with legal action.
"Whoopi Goldberg, after I was acquitted by a jury of my peers, she called me a murderer," he said, echoing comments made on Tucker Carlson's Fox News show.
"Cenk [Uygur] continued to tall me a murderer with the Young Turks. Tiffany Cross called me ‘a little, murderous, white supremacist’ after I was acquitted.
"These People are going to be held accountable, and we’re gonna sue them."
And when pressed if NBA star James' name is still among his spree of legal targets, Rittenhouse responded in the affirmative.
"He’ll be getting a letter, too," Rittenhouse promised.
"We are looking at quite a few politicians, celebrities, athletes, Whoopi Goldberg is on the list. She called me a murderer after I was acquitted by a jury of my peers. She went on to still say that, and there's others," Rittenhouse said earlier this week to Tucker Carlson.
"We're going to hold everybody who lied about me accountable, such as everybody who lied called me a white supremacist.
"They're all going to be held accountable. And we're going to handle them in a courtroom."