<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2HC6mU_1CUPWfVQ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2HC6mU_1CUPWfVQ00" width="1280" height="720" >RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Diamond District developer at the center of a defamation lawsuit claims he’s only being sued because Richmond Flying Squirrels’ ownership wants a better deal, according to new court filings.Two of the biggest players in the massive Diamond District redevelopment — its developers and the Richmond Flying Squirrels — are locked in a bitter dispute over a heated exchange that took place during CarMax’s opening night on April 7.The initial defamation lawsuit was filed on Thursday, May 28 by Lou DiBella, managing general partner of the Richmond Flying Squirrels. In it, he accuses Jason Guillot and his company, Thalhimer Realty Partners Inc, of falsely claiming DiBella threatened him and his family during this encounter.Between Tuesday, April 7, and Thursday, April 9, Guillot told Angie Rodgers, the director of Economic Development for Richmond’s Economic Development Authority (EDA), that DiBella threatened to kill Guillot and his family if Guillot did not sell DiBella a certain parcel of land, according to court documents obtained by 8News.The lawsuit claims that Dibella’s comment — which was a quote from the 1982 film “Diner” — was only intended as a joke and that “no reasonable person would have interpreted the remark as a real threat.”“Guillot’s statement is false, and Guillot knew it was false when he made it,” said Nicholas J. Brechbill, a lawyer for DiBella, in the complaint.What the lawsuit fails to mention is that, prior to this interaction, DiBella’s dog allegedly attacked one of Guillot’s fellow Thalhimer employees. This is according to an April 8 memorandum Guillot filed with the city, in which he described his version of that night’s events.This feud is just the latest in a series of controversies surrounding the Squirrels, CarMax Park and the city. These years of tension are something Brechbill addressed in the lawsuit, claiming that RVA Diamond Partners was “incapable of designing and overseeing construction of a top-notch, modern professional baseball stadium” and that they “consistently failed to meet milestones to deliver the stadium on time.”Guillot filed his formal response to the lawsuit in federal court on Thursday, June 18. In this 21-page document, Guillot denies ever telling anyone with the city of Richmond that DiBella “threatened to kill [him] and his family.”He states that city officials would confirm this — and, within the lawsuit, he includes a statement from Rodgers, where she in fact denies that Guillot ever said this to her. She further denies ever telling DiBella that Guillot had said such a thing.For these reasons, Guillot argues this lawsuit is “baseless” and just an attempt from Navigators Baseball — the ownership group behind the Squirrels — to intimidate Thalimer and the city into renegotiating the terms of their development deal.“Specifically, this lawsuit is DiBella’s latest effort to pressure Defendants into selling DiBella a prime parcel of property adjacent to CarMax Park that the city conveyed to Diamond District Partners, LLC in March 2025 in accordance with the parties’ development deal.”Online court records do not show any further updates to this case as of the time of reporting.To see all of 8News’ reporting on Richmond’s Diamond District redevelopment, which is anchored by CarMax Park, click here.</div></body>

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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Diamond District developer at the center of a defamation lawsuit claims he’s only being sued because Richmond Flying Squirrels’ ownership wants a better deal, according to new court filings. Two of the biggest players in the massive Diamond District redevelopment — its...

Diamond District developer says defamation lawsuit is ‘baseless,’ an intimidation tactic

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