• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, April 4, 2019

It looks like former Crispin Porter Bogusky creative executive Ralph Watson is making headway in identifying those behind the “Diet Madison Avenue” Instagram account that anonymously accused him of being a “sex predator” last year. 

Watson is suing his DMA accusers of libel in separate suits in Los Angeles and New York. He’s also suing CPB for wrongful termination and related charges in Colorado, where he served as Chief Creative Officer at the agency’s Boulder Office. He was terminated not long after the “sex predator” accusations were posted via the DMA Instagram account early last year. 

Earlier this week, Watson’s attorney, Michael Ayotte, asked for and received a two-month delay before the initial conference in the New York case. That conference is now set for late May. 

Ayotte stated in court papers that he’s expecting to receive identifying information “within the next week” after communicating with lawyers for Instagram and parent Facebook. That information will allow his client Watson to serve complaints to defendants in the New York case. 

Last summer, Ayotte won approval from a California court to subpoena records from Instagram and Facebook that would reveal the identities of the anonymous individuals behind DMA that Watson believes libeled him. 

In response to that approval, the anonymous defendant, known as Doe 3, moved to quash Watson’s subpoena power and requested a protective order that would keep the defendant’s identity from being revealed publicly. 

The California court denied the request to quash Watson’s ability to subpoena while the protective order was granted. An appeal by Doe 3 was denied last month. 

In a letter to U.S. District Judge John Koeltl, Ayotte explained he needs the extra time to serve complaints on the “responsible defendants” in New York once the identifying information from Facebook and Instagram is obtained. 

At deadline, Ayotte hadn’t responded to a follow-up query about whether he had  obtained the information he is seeking from the two social networks.