Ted Nugent

Nugent publicly minimised or denied the severity of the pandemic, challenged mortality statistics and refused vaccination on the basis of inaccurate claims. In April 2021, he announced that he had tested positive for Covid-19 and had been so ill he thought he might die, while continuing to use a racially offensive term for the virus and reject vaccination.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Nugent described President Barack Obama as a 'subhuman mongrel', triggering nationwide controversy while he was campaigning for Republican Greg Abbott in Texas. He subsequently said that he had 'crossed the line' and apologised for the language used, while maintaining his political attacks on Obama.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Nugent pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanour under the Lacey Act after transporting a black bear taken in breach of Alaskan law. He received two years' probation, a $10,000 fine, $600 in restitution, temporary hunting restrictions and an obligation to produce an awareness message.

Attribution

Directly implicated

At a National Rifle Association event, Nugent made highly aggressive remarks about Barack Obama's re-election, notably saying that he would be 'dead or in jail' the following year if Obama were re-elected. The Secret Service examined the statements and met Nugent. The matter was subsequently described as resolved without prosecution.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

After a hunting programme showed Nugent killing a young deer in circumstances investigated by wildlife officers, he pleaded no contest to two offences: using bait for deer and failing to sign a tag correctly. The other initial charges were dropped under the agreement, and California revoked his hunting privileges.

Attribution

Directly implicated

The Muskegon Summer Celebration festival cancelled Nugent's concert in 2003 after a radio interview triggered controversy over racial language attributed to him. Nugent and his company sued the festival. The jury found in their favour for breach of contract and awarded damages, but rejected their defamation claims and several other legal arguments; the appellate court subsequently upheld the outcome.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Paternity proceedings brought in New Hampshire led Nugent to acknowledge in 2004 that he was the father of a boy born in 1995. The dispute subsequently ended with an agreement setting monthly child maintenance and leaving custody with the mother.

Attribution

Directly implicated

During a Detroit radio programme in 1992, Nugent made sexually degrading and insulting remarks about Heidi Prescott, an official at the Fund for Animals, following an anti-hunting campaign. Prescott brought a defamation action. Three days before the scheduled trial, the case was settled for $75,000.

State of the evidence

Settlement

Attribution

Directly implicated

Pele Massa stated that she met Ted Nugent when she was seventeen and he was approximately thirty, and claimed that a guardianship arrangement had been made with her parents to facilitate their relationship. Nugent acknowledged that she was seventeen when they met but denied that such a document existed and maintained that she was eighteen when she moved in with him.

State of the evidence

Disputed

Attribution

Directly implicated