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CBS3 sued by Main Line Realtor over dead-animal video

The station is being sued for defamation, emotional distress and more.

The property at 119 Booth Lane in Lower Merion. Realtor Andrea Straub says she was fired over alleged dumping of dead animals on a neighbor's property. Charges against her were dropped. (Ed Hille / Staff Photographer)
The property at 119 Booth Lane in Lower Merion. Realtor Andrea Straub says she was fired over alleged dumping of dead animals on a neighbor's property. Charges against her were dropped. (Ed Hille / Staff Photographer)Read more

 ANDREA STRAUB, the Main Line Realtor accused of dumping animal carcasses on a neighbor's lawn after the neighbor and Straub put their homes up for sale at the same time, is suing CBS3 for defamation, emotional distress and more, saying the station broadcast "a preposterous and knowingly false story" about the incident.

Anchor Chris May, reporter Walt Hunter, news director Susan Schiller and account executive Kim Papay also are named as defendants.

Andrea Straub said she lost an annual income of about $500,000 from her job at Prudential, plus $16 million in listings, and was "effectively run out of town" after the story aired June 26. She also received "hate-filled" voice mails, email and letters, she said.

Straub's husband, Jonathan, was found guilty of harassment and disorderly conduct in relation to the incident and fined $25 in December in district court. Charges against Andrea Straub were dropped. The Straubs are separated.

"We believe our reporting was both accurate and responsible, and we will vigorously defend ourselves in this lawsuit," a rep from CBS3 told me yesterday.

According to the suit, filed last week in Philadelphia, house sitter Eric Welsch, who uses the Twitter handle "Gore God," gave the station a video that showed a "blurry, yet clearly male figure" vandalizing a "For Sale" sign and placing "animal corpses" on the property.

"Anyone who knows Ms. Straub is well aware of her fear of mice and rats, making these claims that she placed dead corpses on the neighbor's property all the more absurd," the suit states.

Straub is friends with CBS3 reporter Lesley Van Arsdall, the suit continues. After Hunter contacted Straub for comment, she reached out to Van Arsdall, who then watched the video and told the defendants that Straub was not in it and was not involved in the incident.

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After the story aired, Van Arsdall texted Straub about Papay: "The crazy blond chick in sales may have something to do with this."

Apparently, Papay and Straub had an "interaction" last April when Papay was "a potential buyer" of a home "where the Gore God was housesitting," the suit says, claiming Papay and Gore God wanted to "defame" Straub.

Straub's attorney, James E. Beasley Jr., did not return calls for comment.

OUT AND ABOUT

* After his show at Ovation Hall, Jamie Foxx rolled into HQ Nightclub at Revel in Atlantic City on Friday night with a large entourage that partied with him until the wee hours. The group danced to the beats from Swedish DJ and producer Otto Knows while seated in HQ Nightclub's VIP section, enjoying Grey Goose cocktails and champagne until about 3:30 a.m.

* Scannicchio's (2500 S. Broad St.) had a double shot of celebrities. Former Villanova star Malik Allen stopped by after catching the Villanova-Georgetown game, while Philly-born teen idol crooner Fabian dined at the Italian spot on Monday night.

Jackson's 'Fashion'

Eagle DeSean Jackson tweeted a picture of himself on the set of E!'s "Fashion Police," featuring Joan Rivers, daughter Melissa Rivers and Kelly Osbourne. His episode, co-starring model Behati Prinsloo (main squeeze of Maroon 5's Adam Levine), airs Friday at 9 p.m.

Going 'Undercover'

Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park's Oaks location (122 Mill Road, Unit B-250) will be featured on CBS' "Undercover Boss" on Friday. CEO Jeff Platt visited several locations of the trampoline utopia, including our local branch. Catch the show on CBS at 8 p.m.

Pilot part

Norristown's Kellee Stewart was cast in "Damaged Goods," a pilot starring Anna Camp of "Pitch Perfect" as a lawyer whose boyfriend says they can no longer be together if she takes the promotion he thought he would get. Stewart was previously seen in TBS' "My Boys" and the Bernie Mac-Ashton Kutcher-starring "Guess Who."

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