Terrell Owens faces a defamation lawsuit after an Instagram post about Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells’s death prompted demands for three of his friends’ arrests, The Guardian reports.
Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo, and Morgan Seymour allege the NFL Hall of Famer damaged their reputations and put them in danger. Owens shared a video on September 26 suggesting they erased material from Wells’s phone following his death. The plaintiffs deny that allegation.
“Arrest them immediately!! Like yesterday,” Owens wrote alongside the video.
The complaint, filed Monday in a Mississippi district court, also lists the young men’s fathers as plaintiffs because state law considers their sons minors.
Their attorneys allege the post contributed to death threats, confrontations, and strangers mocking the three. The complaint also claims some businesses denied them service.
Attempts to reach Owens for comment proved unsuccessful, according to the report.
ARREST THEM IMMEDIATELY!!
LIKE YESTERDAY!!— Terrell Owens (@terrellowens) September 26, 2026
Nolan Wells’s family continues seeking answers
Wells traveled with friends to an island off Mississippi on July 4. He disappeared that afternoon, and his body turned up two days later.
His death drew scrutiny online, including discussion about race because Wells was Black and most friends accompanying him were white.
Article Continues BelowA Mississippi grand jury opted against criminal charges in late September, describing the death as appearing “consistent with drowning.” Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said racial motives did not explain his death.
Wells’s parents and attorney Ben Crump continue seeking additional investigation. They point to autopsy findings describing empty airways and an empty stomach, which the family argues conflict with drowning.
“I cannot take that ruling, and I cannot move on with my life,” his mother, Christine Wonsley, said Monday.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers also indicated plans to pursue claims against Al Sharpton and Sunny Hostin.