This California woman got scammed by a fake Kenny Chesney, so she went after the real Kenny Chesney.
A woman named Patricia Linson recently took the country star to court in California, as she claimed that after giving $300,000 to online scammers claiming to be Chesney, the “Summertime” singer was responsible. Her argument? The country star has a duty to warn and protect her and other fans against scammers.
What a world we live in, eh?
The California woman also claimed that an employee of Chesney’s was conspiring with the scammers to feed information and steal her money (though she and her legal team didn’t have much to back that up). It all read like this in the official “Patrica Linson vs. Kenny Chesney” lawsuit:
“Someone impersonating musician and defendant Kenneth Arnold Chesney convinced plaintiff Patricia Linson to lend him (the impersonator) and another defendant, who is not a party to this appeal, over $300,000. When the impersonator and the other defendant failed to repay the loan, Linson sued Chesney and the other defendant.
Linson alleged, among other things, that Chesney likely knew third parties were impersonating him to steal money from others and that he owed her a duty to warn and protect her against such scams.
Linson also alleged that an unknown employee of Chesney may have aided and abetted the impersonator by leaking confidential information about Chesney’s music business to the impersonator, which the impersonator used to convince Linson that he was Chesney. As a result, Linson claimed Chesney was also liable for her loss under vicarious liability and negligent hiring, supervision, and retention theories.”
So how did all of that hold up in the court of law?
Not so well for Linson, and very well for Kenny Chesney. The Los Angeles appeals court ended up siding in favor of the country star, and against the California woman who was seemingly just trying to find a quick way to get her $300,000 back.
Here is the official ruling:
“The trial court sustained without leave to amend Chesney’s demurrer as to all of Linson’s causes of action against Chesney, and dismissed him from the lawsuit. Linson appeals, arguing the trial court erred in finding Chesney did not owe her a duty to warn or protect her against the impersonator’s scam. We conclude the court correctly found Chesney owed Linson no such duty. Because Linson has not otherwise shown the court erred in dismissing any of her claims against Chesney, we affirm.”
Thus, another Kenny Chesney-related loss for the California woman.
The moral of the story here is to stay vigilant when it comes scammers in this day and age (if you don’t want to end up like Linson), and especially keep an eye out on behalf of some loved ones. Scammers often single out lonely people, so if you know someone like that in your life that also happens to be a fan of country music, make sure to check in. I will say, I’m kind of stunned at the number of people getting scammed for these outrageous amounts of money… y’all got that much laying around to give to Kenny Chesney?
And remember that celebrities aren’t ever going to ask regular people for money, or offer up money with no strings attached. If you think this doesn’t happen often, you’d be wrong. Back in July of 2024, a story about a Massachusetts woman sending a fake Vince Gill over $350,000 went viral.
