WILMINGTON — A local brewery and its owner concluded a year-long defamation lawsuit triggered by a viral social media post after its author posted a public apology recanting her allegations. Two other women involved in the case expressed relief the suit has ended but are standing by their original claims.
READ MORE: Edward Teach defamation lawsuit against local performer resolved with public apology
Edward Teach Brewery owner David Gary Sholar filed a defamation lawsuit against local musician Madonna Nash in January after her Dec. 29 Facebook post garnered thousands of comments and shares accusing him of engaging in inappropriate and threatening behavior during her daughter’s Nov. 16 performance at the brewery. Sholar denies the claims.
On July 31 — six months after filing the original suit against Nash — Sholar and ETB filed a motion to amend the complaint by adding Nash’s daughter, Asia Daye Norris, and her friend Paige Grant to the case. The lawsuit claimed defamation, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process against Daye and Grant. It also included a civil conspiracy claim against all three defendants.
Nash issued a public apology to Sholar and Edward Teach Brewery on Dec. 17 renouncing her post from a year before. Edward Teach accepted the apology and dropped its litigation against her the same day. Three days later, the brewery voluntarily dismissed its remaining claims against Norris and Grant.
“The lawsuit is now over,” ETB wrote in a Dec. 20 public statement. “From our perspective, this chapter is behind us and we’re focused on a better 2025 for all.”
Daye and Grant told Port City Daily this week they had previously sought to avoid public engagement related to the incident but felt obligated to distance themselves from Nash’s apology:
“We are making a statement now only because we did not get the chance to respond to the complaint filed against us that is a matter of public record and we want the truth to be brought to light. We were fully prepared to defend the allegations against us, with evidence, until it was suddenly dismissed last Friday afternoon. It is our opinion that Madonna Nash was coerced into making a public apology to avoid a default judgment.”
Sholar’s lawyer from Brooks and Pierce, Thomas Varnum, told PCD last week: “Ms. Nash was not paid anything for her apology or cooperation.”
According to court documents, Nash’s former attorney Justin Moulin of Port City Family Law filed a motion to withdraw from the case in August. A Brunswick County superior court assistant clerk granted Sholar and ETB’s motion for entry default for failing to respond to the amended complaint on Dec. 13, four days before Nash’s public apology.
Norris and Grant said Nash withdrew her attorney due to her inability to cover mounting legal expenses; Moulin said he could not comment on the issue.
“All I will say about her case is that I’m very happy to see they were able to reach an amicable resolution and I wish her nothing but the best moving forward,” Moulin wrote in an email to Port City Daily. “While I was involved in the case, ETB’s lawyers and I worked very hard to get some sort of resolution together and I’m glad that has come to fruition.”
Michael Davenport, Norris and Grant’s attorney, confirmed his office was prepared to litigate the amended complaint and noted his clients refused to sign non-disclosure agreements with ETB.
“We strongly disagree with Nash’s apology and dispute the contents of her apology,” Norris and Grant wrote. “At this point, we do not find it productive to rehash the details of Nov. 16, but suffice it to say, Gary Sholar treated us horribly that night.”
In her apology, Nash stated she’d discovered new details about the case over the past year regarding Grant’s role in the altercation. She claimed Grant pushed Sholar first and launched the verbal dispute. Davenport said he “had no idea” what evidence Nash relied on to change her position.
“Paige Grant was not the aggressor and never placed her hands on Gary Sholar,” Norris and Grant wrote. “Despite our inability to respond to each of Mr. Sholar’s allegations in detail in court, we are glad the lawsuit is now over.”
Nash’s apology followed a year of controversy surrounding the Fourth Street brewery, including a separate product-tampering case against former ETB head brewer Erik Peterson, a bomb threat, two citizen-initiated warrants filed by Grant and Norris, and an Alcohol Law Enforcement investigation culminating in criminal misdemeanor charges and violations of NC Administrative Code. It also led to multiple local businesses and retail outlets removing the beer from its shelves.
In March, Sholar pleaded guilty for a misdemeanor ALE charge for failure to supervise the premises and accepted an Alford Plea for allowing disorderly conduct at the brewery. The District Attorney’s office dismissed remaining charges of assault on a female and communicating threats included in Norris and Grant’s citizen-initiated warrants; prosecutor George Coleman IV determined the state had insufficient evidence for prosecution.
Moulin, Nash’s former attorney, filed a motion to dismiss the defamation suit in May. His arguments included “contributory negligence” — a legal defense barring plaintiffs from recovering damages if they contribute to their alleged injury — and failure to take reasonable measures to mitigate damages. Moulin contended Sholar and ETB were negligent by failing to apologize to Norris and Grant, failing to preserve evidence, and by mischaracterizing the Nov. 16 incident.
Grant, Daye, and ETB’s former booking agent, Drew Massey, submitted affidavits in support of Nash. Massey — who stated he’d booked artists for ETB for six years since its opening — testified he’d received a call from Norris the night of the incident matching her mother’s Facebook post published six weeks later.
“After hearing Asia’s side of the story I made a phone call to [taproom manager] Amy Cavasos and told her to check the video footage from that night to determine what happened,” he wrote in his affidavit.
Cavasos and several other individuals viewed the security footage of the Nov. 16 incident the following day but did not believe it warranted further action or preservation; it was erased automatically within two or three weeks. ETB’s complaint includes an affidavit from head brewer Adam Young stating the footage showed Nash’s post was “largely untrue and embellished” and an exhibit demonstrating the brewery’s failed attempt to recover it with an IT professional after it was routinely written over.
The only public footage of the November incident was published by an anonymous Facebook account in January. The 11-second video shows Sholar in close proximity to Grant and Daye at the bar. The bar owner looks at Daye while saying, “this is my place” and “you’re in my seating.” As the women walked away, he yelled “get out, get out,” and “you’re a f***ing entitled bitch!”
The clip mirrored the description of a 22-second video reviewed by ALE agent Jason Dzierzynski during his investigation of the incident. Dzierzynski wrote Sholar was “hovering over” the women and appeared to follow them before the clip ended with a “very loud scream.”
“Weeks went by and I never heard back from Amy about what the video footage proved that night,” Massey wrote in his affidavit.
The booking agent said Cavasos called him around Dec. 15 to inform him he was being fired because Sholar wanted to go in a different direction with music. He added he was forced to cancel four months of booked entertainment at the venue.
“Edward Teach continues to book music and reach out to musicians that I work with,” the former booking agent wrote. “Most of my lineup of artists decided to not perform there because they have my back as an agent and I was fired from this establishment for reasons that don’t line up. I was told they want to go in a different direction but are still contacting artists that I introduced them to.”
Catch up on all reporting of the incident in the last year here.
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