Alleged Jackson Stalker Sues, Again

Mon., Apr. 7, 2003 1:45 PM PDT by Lia Haberman

Janet Jackson has been slapped with a defamation suit by an alleged stalker.

Eric Leon Christian, accused in a 1997 restraining order of calling and faxing the pop singer more than 90 times and threatening to assault her, has filed his second lawsuit against Jackson claiming he has suffered mental and emotional stress to the tune of $20 million, reports Rolling Stone.

Last Tuesday, Christian filed a civil complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court against Jackson's company, Black Doll Inc., claiming the November '97 restraining order against him was bogus.

The 31-year-old Maryland man continues to deny allegations that he harassed and assaulted Janet (Miss Jackson, if you're nasty), contending he never met, called, assaulted, harassed or threatened the Rhythm Nation diva.

Instead, Christian maintains, Jackson has ruined his good name and squashed any chance the budding music producer had of making it in the Biz.

"The news media publicized this case," asserts the complaint, "the media, however, called Eric Christian a stalker, which was defamation and led to mental and emotional stress. Defamation and malicious prosecution was the result of the false claim."

Despite losing a similar $20 million suit against Jackson last year, the angry young man is ready to try again. This time he's asking for $20,000 for false statements made by Jackson on top of another $20 million restitution payout. Christian is also seeking to have the restraining order wiped off his Los Angeles County criminal record.

Last year, Christian disputed the restraining order on the basis that he lived in Maryland and nowhere near the 36-year-old singer-actress. He also accused Black Doll Inc. of leaking details of the restraining order to the press, ultimately ruining his rep when the media picked up the story and ran with it.

Calls to Jackson's publicist were not returned.

That's the way love goes for the pop diva, who has been the victim of several obsessed fans over the past few years. In addition to Christian, she has obtained restraining orders against Ronald Benjamin Singleton (who reportedly touted himself as "the next President of the United States"), Frank Paul Jones (who spent two years in jail for writing harassing letters to Jackson) and Jay Thomas Myers (who wrote a John Hinckley-style letter to then President Clinton telling him that Jackson was his "capture").