A video of a TEDx talk by the former wife of Dan Price won’t be posted publicly after representatives of the Gravity Payments CEO told the University of Kentucky that “that they believed some of the content in the video talk in question was defamatory,” according to a statement today from the university’s general counsel.
The university’s decision not to post the video was first reported today by Bloomberg Businessweek. The magazine had reported details of the talk by Price’s ex-wife, Kristie Colón, in a Dec. 1 article about Price, the Seattle startup CEO who made global headlines with his decision to institute a $70,000 minimum salary and reduce his own pay to the same amount.
Price wasn’t named in the talk, but Colón has been married only once. Price has denied the allegations made in the TEDx talk. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Colón read on stage from what she called a 2006 journal entry, describing in detail an alleged incident of physical abuse by her then-husband. Her talk was about the power of writing to overcome trauma, according to the article.
A description of Colón’s talk has also been removed from the event site for TEDxUKY. The description had read, in part, “Kristie was married at 20, divorced at 27, and lived through a relationship that was abusive in every sense of the word.”
Here’s the full statement today from William E. Thro, the University of Kentucky general counsel, as provided to GeekWire by university spokesman Jay Blanton.
“Mr. Price’s representatives notified the University of Kentucky that they believed some of the content in the video talk in question was defamatory. In light of this concern, the university chose to exercise its discretion not to post the video. The university does not presently have possession of the video. The university takes no position on whether the content was, in fact, defamatory.”
In a follow-up with Bloomberg Businessweek, Blanton said, Price’s representative “did not threaten litigation and they are not the direct reason that we decided not to post the video. They raised concerns about the truthfulness of what is said in the video. We don’t know about the veracity of … those statements or not. We have simply decided not to post the video.”
GeekWire has contacted Price and a Gravity Payments representative seeking comment on the university’s decision.
