Game of Thrones vet Joseph Gatt sues Los Angeles DA for $40 million after getting "branded as a serial pedophile”

Joseph Gatt is an English actor who has appeared in movies like Thor, Star Trek Into Darkness, Dumbo and Black Adam. He also played a wildling Thenn warg for a few episodes of Game of Thrones; his character is killed while clashing with Night's Watchmen during the Battle of Castle Black in "The Watchers on the Wall" in the fourth season.

In 2022, Gatt was arrested by the LAPD and charged with sexual communication with a minor. The charge was later dropped. Now, Gatt is suing L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón, L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Angela Brunson, LAPD Detective Denos Amarantos, Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles for $40 million, claiming that the charges against him were "utterly baseless" and were part of a personally motivated effort to ruin his acting career and personal reputation, according to Variety.

According to Gatt's suit, the incident that led to his arrest involved an "obsessed" 16-year-old fan whom Gatt has never met, although he did respond to her social media messages in a way that was “wholly appropriate and consistent with typical celebrity-fan exchanges.” Gatt alleges that the fan fabricated messages sent to her by Gatt, and used a still image of Gatt in the nude from his appearance on the TV show Banshee. Gatt alleges that the LAPD arrested him for a "baseless crime" that "publicly branded him as a serial pedophile" long before interviewing the fan or assessing her credibility, despite "glaring red flags that would have caused any reasonable person to recognize the complete absence of probable cause.”

Gatt further alleges that Deputy District Attorney Brunson “held personal biases and animosity toward Gatt” on account of what Variety calls his "opposing liberal politics and support of District Attorney Gascón."

It's true that Gatt has not appeared in a movie or TV since 2022, the year of his arrest, which will surely be something he'll point out when and if this case gets to the point where potential damages are discussed.