UES Hotel Bully Asks 'Petty' Defamation Suit Be Tossed In Court Filing

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The underage drinker accused of defaming a ritzy Upper East Side hotel this summer has officially denied the accusations and asked that they be tossed, according to a new court filing.

Theo Weintraub, 19, accused by the luxurious Mark Hotel of paying people to stage protests outside of the hotel following an official ban from the premises two years ago — after repeated and aggressive attempts to illegally drink at the bar — denies the hotel's claims and asks a judge to toss the suit.

The teen claims his first official court filing since the hotel sued him in July, stating that even if it did happen, it "was not severe or persuasive," and that any "reasonable person" would not think of it as anything other than as "petty slights and trivial inconveniences."

"We are confident in our defenses and believe that Theo will prevail in his defenses to the extent that he makes any affirmative allegations against The Mark Hotel," said Weintraub's lawyer, Leo Esses.

An attorney for The Mark Hotel did not return a request for a comment.

The filing also asks for the hotel to pay for Weintraub's new lawyer, who was recently tapped in after he dismissed his previous attorney a week ago.

Starting in June, Weintraub, and others who the suit and hotel workers claim are being paid to participate, protested and agitated outside the hotel, shouting chants like “The Mark has mice, The Mark supports Epstein, pedophiles, bald head,’" one worker told Patch.

Chants were even captured in a video of celebrity musician Drake leaving the hotel on July 17, when one protester can be heard chanting, "The Mark helped Epstein."

Weintraub's astroturf campaign against The Mark was the result of a two-year-long grudge held by the still-underaged lad when he was banned from the swanky bar after repeated —and "increasingly aggressive" — attempts to get boozed up with a fake ID, the suit claims.

Sometimes, the suit claims, Weintraub and his crew would be outside for hours into the night, adding that fights had broken out on some occasions.

"All these different chants all day…It’s the craziest thing we’ve ever had to deal with," a worker told Patch.

After the suit was first filed, lawyers for the hotel told a judge in Auguest that they were unable to officially serve Weintraub legal papers to initiate the proceedings because the teen was hiding behind his doormen, the letter claimed.

"My process servers have been blocked by Defendant Weintraub’s doormen from going upstairs to deliver the motion papers to Defendant Weintraub personally," the lawyer wrote.

Eventually, he was served.

Related Coverage:

• Underage Drinker Pays Protesters To Bully Lux UES Hotel: Worker, Suit
• UES Hotel Bully Hides Behind Park Ave Doormen To Dodge Suit: Lawyer