Did Lou Holtz call immigrants ‘deadbeats’? He’s filing lawsuit against The Daily Beast

Former South Carolina head football coach Lou Holtz is suing online publication The Daily Beast over an article that claimed he called immigrants “deadbeats” during last year's Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

The federal lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Orlando, where Holtz lives. It claims an article written by Betsy Woodruff and published by the news website on July 19, 2016, defamed Holtz, causing him to lose paid speaking opportunities and suffer personal humiliation. He's seeking damages of more than $75,000.

The article originally carried the headline "Lou Holtz at RNC Said Immigrants are Deadbeats Invading the US." The suit claims The Daily Beast took Holtz's comments out of context and that he never used the term “deadbeats.” After complaints, the website updated its headline to “Holtz Goes on Immigrant-Bashing RNC Rant.”

“I don’t want to become you,” the article quoted Holtz as saying during a luncheon speech. “I don’t want to speak your language, I don’t want to celebrate your holidays, I sure as hell don’t want to cheer for your soccer team!”

The Orlando Sentinel reports that the lawsuit contends that Holtz was relaying the mind-set of his grandparents, who were Ukrainian immigrants to the United States. The line about soccer was simply “a joke that you would expect to hear from a lifelong football fan, football coach, and football commentator,” the lawsuit contends.

“Mr. Holtz has the utmost respect for his grandparents and all immigrants who follow the law and find the American dream in this country,” the lawsuit says, according to the Sentinel. “The substance or gist of Mr. Holtz’s statements was not that all immigrants are ‘deadbeats.’ ”

A spokesperson for The Daily Beast's parent company told the Associated Press that it doesn't comment on pending litigation.

This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Did Lou Holtz call immigrants ‘deadbeats’? He’s filing lawsuit against The Daily Beast."