The question you need to ask yourself is whether you _should_ talk to journalists during a legal matter, instead of trying to fight the court of public opinion.

I'm very comfortable with the truth of everything being public, it's on our side. The legal case will drag out for years.

hmm.. no, I don't think it is all on your side, sad to say. I was with you until I read this message you sent to Heather Brunner:

>> If you decline, on Monday morning, I tell Greg Mondres: * Lee's refusal to negotiate terms to resolve our conflict. * Your interviewing with Automattic over the past year. * I will possibly tell the press all of the above.

That's just so obviously threatening and uncalled for. Even if Brunner were considering jumping ship, you shouldn't threaten someone into accepting an offer.

Now, you don't know me from Adam, but I want you to strongly, strongly consider that this thing that you've been afraid of happening, has actually already happened. And that is, that you have become Evil Matt -- with the little horns on your head and everything. And to get back to being Good Matt, you're going to have to let some things go.

"No problem is so formidable that you can't walk away from it." -- Charles Schulz

>That's just so obviously threatening and uncalled for.

And honestly in the territory of being legally actionable.

What I think you don't realize is, the minor discrepancies in statements of facts are inconsequential in the court of opinon. Even if (which TBH don't find implausible at all) everything you said and posted is true and I agree in principle, that doesn't resolve the issues around CoI and they way you have been communicating over the last couple of weeks, including the WPConf bombshell and the abrupt discontinuation of service. The fallout of the drama and the way you have been playing your hand vastly overshadow whatever your motivations for "going nuclear" was.

I don't believe you will gain anyone's sympathy by resolving a misunderstanding about who-said-what-when in some inconsequential matter somehow apparently also part of this drama. Some if it seems like pure distraction that I don't see why anyone outside of the individuals involved should have ever heard about in the first place.

I second the sentiment that you don't appear healthy and could suggest maybe let someone else take a seat in one of the (3? 4?) chairs for a change? At least from the outside, you still seem free to choose your focus yourself. Maybe that window will be closing...

Literally everybody is telling you to STFU. The problem as I see it, is that you might feel incredibly confident in your case, but you are so close to things that you have convinced yourself of your own righteousness.

That’s not necessarily reality, and you are not as righteous as you believe. Even if you are - your words could be misconstrued.

I cannot understand why your legal team is not advising you to stop making public comments. Or perhaps they are, and you aren’t listening to them? Either way, you are being incredibly foolish.

You're aware that the messages shown in that document (if authentic) can be interpreted as extortion, right?

Regardless, I'd take some time and go offline, instead of posting reactionary comments on HN right now.

He seems rather level-headed to me. I would rather a CEO address this lawsuit candidly personally.

Have you ever been party to or close to an important legal proceeding?

Anything said and documented prior to the hearing will be combed through. Even tiny inconsistencies will be cherry picked and entered as evidence to raise doubt of the claims made.

I'm all for the sentiment behind a CEO addressing ongoing lawsuits candidly, but in reality its just a bad idea. Statements made without being fully vetted by council, with the context of all other statements already made, will inevitably have issues that could throw a wrench in the case.

Oh I would much rather that because it is amusing. However if I used Wordpress I would definitely think differently.

Sonewhere I saw the great comment regarding Matt: "It's like someone wrote Elon Musk in PHP"...

Even Elon knows when to stop.

No, I don't think he does.

Any lawyer would tell him it's a bad idea (as has happened in this thread!), but I'm glad you think it's a good idea.

I don't think it's a good idea, but it is preferable for me as a bystander trying to understand his position on and the details of the case.

Have you spoken to a lawyer, Matt? That’s a terrible course of action. It’s like talking to the police. You never do so, no matter how innocent you are.

You know legal case documents will eventually become public, right?

lol I honestly can’t wait for the world to crumble around you and reality to set in.

You're taking this very personally and in the public domain even though it will hurt your company.

Maybe there gets a point you become so wealthy, that ego is all that matters. But you're supposedly a smart guy who cares about his products, community and company, why not take the practical and economically safe route of duking it out in court?

At least on this site, you may be “here” but you’re not responding meaningfully to most of the questions/comments posed to you. This seems more like a weird approach to PR than any kind of attempt to clarify or justify your position.

There’s a German saying that goes: Being in the right and getting justice are two different things.

The only thing you are doing right now is lessening your chances at getting justice, regardless of how objectively right you may be.