I (28m) accidentally punched a woman. She went around telling people that I intentionally hit her and also that I was a**sive to my wife.
A Reddit user (28m) shares an unfortunate incident where he accidentally punched a woman, Susan, during a confrontation with her brother, Dave, who had been making his wife (28f) feel uncomfortable at a gathering. After the altercation, Susan falsely claimed that the user intentionally hit her and spread the narrative that he was abusive to his wife.
Now, the user faces backlash and potential consequences as the situation spirals out of control. Read the original story below to find out what led to this chaotic situation and how it’s being handled.
‘ I (28m) accidentally punched a woman. She went around telling people that I intentionally hit her and also that I was a**sive to my wife.’
Last week, there was a small get together at my friend’s house; just us 9-10 of us close friends. Now he invited one of his friends, Susan (28f) and she brought along her brother (30m), who none of us knew. My wife (28f) was present there too. Her brother, Dave, was being weird with my wife from the get-go.
Half the time he was there he was staring at my wife inappropriately and trying to touch her whenever he found her alone. She even asked me to hold her hand the entire time because he was making her uncomfortable. I told her we could leave if she wanted to, but she said she won’t let a c**ep sabotage her evening.
This was a bad decision on our part; should’ve left earlier. I got a work call in the middle of the party, and my wife told me to take the call and assured me she would be fine with her friend, Lisa. When I came back after 5 minutes, I see Dave trying to talk to Lisa and my wife and both of them looked very uncomfortable.
Apparently he’d been trying to convince them to get inside the pool n**ed. I confronted him, and well, things escalated. He said some colourful words to my wife and Lisa, implied that my wife was totally leading him on before I came back. I physically shoved him away from my wife and Lisa.
He retaliated and not proud of this but we got into a fist fight. It was all adrenaline and fists and punches. I raise my hand to punch him, gained enough momentum that’d have knocked his teeth out and all of a sudden,his sister, Susan comes in front of him trying to shield him.
And my fist hit her in the face. I apologised, I profusely apologised and even offered to take her to the hospital. I’ve never raised my hands on a woman and I never will. This was a f**k up and I was very ashamed of myself. Susan didn’t accept my offer and neither my apologies. Dave took her to the hospital.
The next day, she put up a story on Instagram about how I hit her, with a photo of her injury and her face. The story they’re going with is that my wife and Lisa were totally hitting on Dave and when I found out, I hit Susan out of anger.
Now I’ve been getting threatening messages on my social media accounts, someone even found my LinkedIn profile and messaged my company asking why they hired ‘woman abusers’. Lisa and my wife have tried to mitigate this disaster by posting the correct version of this story, but it looks like people have made up their minds that I’m an a**sive a**hole.
Some have even messaged my wife asking her to divorce me or if I abuse her too or why is she supporting someone who hits women. I contacted Susan through my lawyer and said that we’re gonna sue for defamation and slander, that let’s settle this in court and that other people present at the party are ready to testify against her.
Dave and her are now begging us to forgive them as they’re very poor (they are, both have been unemployed since two-three years) and they’re even ready to post on SM that they lied. My wife thinks that we should definitely sue them. Lisa thinks that a court case will really f**k them over and destroy their lives. I kinda agree with both of them. What should I do?
These are the responses from Reddit users:
Great-do-a-nothing − If theyre saying they will post a retraction have them do it then sue them
[Reddit User] − If you can, take screenshots of any communications you’ve had with them, especially if it’s them admitting to the lie. Whether you go ahead with the court case or not people may still wonder afterwards if they only backed down because they were “bullied” into it because they couldn’t afford a legal battle;
any tangible proof from them could help to clear your name on SM and with your employer (current or future) better than good reviews from your friends will.
Desert_Fairy − They intentionally endangered your family by creating an internet scandal. Not only will no one believe a redaction you will be dealing with this s**t for years. Sue them.
You won’t get much, but your boss will see that the courts sided with you and hopefully your job won’t be lost for this. Get off social media (your wife too) and start over. New phone #s new accounts, etc. They made their choices, you now have to protect yourself.
fuuuuuuuckkkkkk − My instinct is that you should sue them. They blatantly lied in order to tarnish your name, and it resulted in people reaching out to the company you work for. You could have lost your job because of them.
Had they not posted it publicly then I would say no, but sharing it with (probably) hundreds of people shows they were being malicious, not just lying to defend themselves. Even if they post something admitting to their lie and apologizing, they might still go around verbally telling people otherwise.
Or people might think that you threatened her so now she’s saying she lied so you don’t hurt her. Suing them proves that there are consequences to their actions and it’ll give you a chance to show them, in court, how much their lie impacted you.
If your wife is on board and you both can financially handle it, then go for it. Maybe just be prepared to take a light settlement at the end so you don’t ruin them?
ZenMechanist − Sue them. They deserve nothing less than to be raked over the coals for lying about you and trying to ruin your lives. They weren’t forced to lie. They weren’t forced to post lies. They did so because they thought they could ruin your lives and reputations without repercussion.
They are only begging for mercy now that they are in jeopardy, the didn’t care when it was they who had the upper hand. He behaved horrendously, she behaved foolishly (don’t interfere in a fight unless you accept that you may get hurt,) and then they both lied and tried to f**k you over.
He’s a predatory c**ep and she’s an enabler. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You didn’t hit her, you tried to hit him and she got in the way. People need to realise that if they want to get involved in a fight they might get hurt.
despontsetchaussees − Are you really asking that? He s**ually harassed your wife, fought with you and then they tarnished your reputation.. You should destroy their lives.
Beating women is a horrible crime, so accusing a man falsely of being one is worse because you are accusing an innocent and you are making fun of all the women who have suffered this. Do as your wife said and sue them. It is the only way to clean your name and teach this sc\*m a lesson.
Ihave0friendzer0 − Sue the ever loving f**k out of em.
[Reddit User] − Lisa thinks that a court case will really f**k them over and destroy their lives. Just like how being accused of beating a woman and having your employer messaged about it could f**k you and your wife over? Sue them to set the record straight in a court of law.
villanelIa − and they’re even ready to post on SM that they lied. ONLY READY? YOU MEAN THEY HAVENT YET PUBLICLY APOLOGISED. These f**king pricks are still hoping to get away with it? You should sue them and it should cost them everything.
zonaa20991 − Sue for libel and character deformation
Do you think the user’s proposal to sue for defamation is fair, or should they show more leniency considering the financial struggles of Susan and Dave? Would you pursue a legal battle knowing the potential consequences, or try to settle things privately to avoid further harm? Share your thoughts below!