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Thursday, April 18, 2024 | Back issues
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George Zimmerman’s Parents Sue Roseanne Barr

SANFORD, Fla. (CN) - George Zimmerman's parents sued Roseanne Barr on Thursday, claiming the comedienne tweeted their address, forcing them to flee from their home.

Robert and Gladys Zimmerman sued Barr in Seminole County Court.

They claim in a brief, 5-page lawsuit, that Barr's March 2012 tweet, which reached her 110,000 followers, forced them to go into hiding.

Barr listed the Zimmerman's names, their address and telephone number, the Zimmermans say in the complaint.

The tweet was published just a month after their son shot and killed unarmed teen Trayvon Martin. The case sparked a national debate and protests when Zimmerman was not immediately arrested.

Martin was black. George Zimmerman, 30, is a white Hispanic.

The Zimmerman's claim Barr's tweet violated Twitter's terms and conditions, which state: "You may not publish or post other people's private and confidential information, such as telephone numbers, street addresses or social security/national identity numbers without their express authorization and permission."

According to the complaint, Barr later tweeted: "At first I thought it was good to let ppl know no one can hide anymore."

Another tweet from Barr stated: "If Zimmerman isn't arrested I'll rt his address again - maybe go 2 his house myself," the complaint states.

The Zimmermans bought their Florida home in 2001. George Zimmerman was listed on the title and lived there until 2008.

Immediately after the tweet, the couple claim, the media swarmed their home. They say they have not been able to return.

They seek damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, loss of consortium and reduced value of their home.

"Roseanne Barr knew at the time of her tweets and her threat to personally come to the Zimmerman's home that it was an open and obvious call for vigilante justice and were intended by Roseanne Barr to cause a lynch mob to descend on Robert Zimmerman and Gladys Zimmerman's Home," the lawsuit states.

The Zimmermans claim Barr's tweets were outrageous and intended to cause them harm or death.

"The behavior of Roseanne Barr under the circumstances went beyond all possible bounds of decency and is utterly intolerable in a civilized community," the complaint states. "It was foreseeable that the tweets would cause Robert and Gladys Zimmerman to have to flee their home in the middle of the night and never to be able to return, have to face a descent of media and others who would seek to do harm to Robert and Gladys Zimmerman to their home, and have to live in seclusion to protect their personal and emotional well being."

The Zimmermans say they were not public figures and did not give permission to publish their private information.

Barr tweeted on Wednesday: "Of course I regret any kind of suffering I've caused accidently or in anger. I apologize, try 2 fix errors, always."

In a response to a comment Tuesday, she tweeted: "It's sad that I did apologize & attempt to contact them until hundreds of threats/doxes by their fans."

This is not the first time a celebrity was sued over George Zimmerman's assumed address.

In 2012, a Florida couple sued filmmaker Spike Lee for tweeting what he thought was George Zimmerman's address but was actually theirs.

Lee apologized and settled with the couple.

The Zimmermans are represented by David Heil of Winter Park, Fla.

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