From LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-04-24/yashar-ali-owes-ariadne-getty-debt-collector-seeks-future-income
The long-standing efforts of a Getty heir to recover thousands of dollars she loaned to journalist and Twitter influencer Yashar Ali have intensified, with a debt collector now seeking to seize his future income and money he gets through online payment platforms like Venmo.
According to papers filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Ali owes well over $200,000 on loans made to him by Ariadne Getty, a philanthropist and granddaughter of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. The online journalist’s debt has ballooned after years of nonpayment.
Getty loaned Ali about $180,000 between 2012 and 2014. Ali has not disputed that Getty loaned him the money, nor that he defaulted on the initial loan after paying only $1,000.
After years of receiving few payments, Getty sued him in 2017 for the outstanding money plus interest. In 2019, a judgment was entered against Ali for $166,429. The sum remains “fully unpaid” and, with interest, stands at $232,769, according to a motion filed Friday.
The debt collector is asking L.A. Superior Court for the power to seize funds sent to Ali on various online platforms, including PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, GoFundMe and Square. The debt collector also wants “all rights to future payments” that Ali may get from his newsletter on Substack; income he derives from Twitter, where he has more than 700,000 followers; as well as future payments he may get from freelance journalism he publishes at Huffpost, MSNBC News or New York magazine, according to the filing.
Yashar Ali Hedayat @yashar 