The winner of the 2021 Mr. Gay World title, Louw Breytenbach has been sued for defamation by the organizers of the competition. Breytenbach resigned in December of 2021, two months after receiving the title, claiming the contract was “unconstitutional and opaque.”
The South African winner reportedly took issue with the contracts’ exclusivity clause that would force him to use the Mr. Gay World organization as his agent for bookings and acting roles. He also objected to the $5,640 penalty he would have to pay if he broke his contract. Breytenbach alleged that the organization demanded that he tag them on Instagram photos from events they weren’t paying him for and wanted more clarity on where the funds that the organization raised went.
In a statement from earlier this week, Breytenbach revealed that he’s been sued by the Mr. Gay World organization and that they want him to retract all of his statements. He also claimed that the organization is pressuring his publicist to retract a press release that was disseminated in December on the topic. His lawyer later confirmed that both Breytenbach and his publicist have been served with court orders that seek to get them to apologize and retract their statements.