Courting death: lawsuits, almost-morticians, and language
Here’s the latest on Lauren the Mortician and her gallivanting with the law
Remember Lauren the Mortician? The girl with the blonde and pink hair, the cool glasses, always talking about death? A lot has been going on with her lately.
Last time we checked in on our dear friend Lauren the Mortician was in early December. I told you about her social media, her beef with child passenger safety technician Jamie Grayson, her interactions online with far-right creators, and a little bit about the wellness check she called on fellow TikToker @caffinatedkitti.
Now we’re all the way in February and a lot has happened, so let’s introduce our key players.
First: Lauren Propson, aka Lauren the Mortician. Followed by her attorney, Jeanette Braun, known sometimes as Janet on the internet, owner of Braun IP Law. For this article, we will refer to her as Janet as well. Basically, she’s a trademark lawyer.
Next, another familiar face: Kitti, who I’ll refer to as KC for the rest of the article, villain life-coach and TikToker.
Next is a person I cited in my last article, Bekah Day, another TikToker who talks about general internet drama.
Finally, our duo Lily Marston and Jessi Smiles, hosts of the “Do We Know Them” podcast, which also talks about internet drama.
What do all of these people have in common? They’re in a lawsuit together!
Propson (aka Lauren) and Braun (aka Janet) are suing KC, Day, Marston, and Smiles for a total of sixteen charges amongst the four of them ranging from defamation to emotional distress.
Let’s break down everything in Lauren’s lawsuit.
For starters, the lawsuit is set in Illinois where Braun and Braun IP Law are based. Meanwhile, Propson is in Wisconsin, Day is in Missouri, KC is in Georgia, Marston is in California, and they didn’t specify where Smiles is located.
Propson and Braun are asking for a minimum of $75,000.
In the “Background” section referring to the defamation case specifically for KC defaming Propson, it mentions how KC posted a video calling Propson a “TERF,” meaning Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist, for content she liked on Instagram. There was a list that KC had posted with a series of links to content Propson had liked by a transphobic creator, but it claims in the lawsuit that none of the content attached was transphobic.
The content creator in question is @conservativeant, who Propson currently follows. On Twitter, he has posted several transphobic things including calling transgender identity “the trans mental illness,” stating “there are no trans kids,” and using the hashtag “#GaysAgainstGroomers” in the same post.
In June, Propson liked a video from @conservativeant making fun of inclusive language, which could be considered transphobic. In April of 2023, @conservativeant posted a video on Instagram talking about anti-2SLGBTQIA+ laws in Florida and mentioned “mutilating children,” a clear reference to transgender children. Propson liked this post.
Propson also liked one of @conservativeant’s videos talking about a tweet. The tweet mentions “transgender totalitarianism” and, in the video, @conservativeant rants about being pissed that saying negative things about queer people could cost people a fine. In March, @conservativeant uploaded a video making fun of people’s pronouns. Propson liked this post as well.
While liking posts from transphobic creators does not necessarily make you transphobic, the lawsuit claims that she did not like any transphobic content, which is simply false.
Next, there’s a big section about KC and Day in regard to Braun, where KC and Day state that Braun filed a false copyright claim which Braun disagrees with.
In the section about Smiles and Marston defaming Braun and her law firm, there are two points about them calling Braun “Janet” instead of her name, Jeanette, which makes it seem like calling someone by a false name for a joke is defamation.
Before the lawsuit gets into the specifics of each count, it states the four main points Propson and Braun are saying are false: “Ms. Propson is transphobic, Attorney Braun is unethical, Attorney Braun files false copyright claims, and Attorney Braun is a rogue attorney.”
Count one is Defamation against KC by Propson and specifically talks about KC’s claims that Propson is transphobic. Point 107 in the lawsuit claims that KC’s actions “harmed [Propson’s] ability to earn future sponsorships and followers.”
That’s not entirely true. While Propson likely did lose some sponsorships, she still ultimately has others. Propson posted a paid partnership video with Pair Eyewear on Jan 25, 2024; she is still getting sponsors.
Counts two through four are all defamation against KC, Day, Smiles, and Marston by Jeanette about them claiming that Braun’s copyright claims were false.
Counts five through eight are all False Light, claiming that the four defendants purposely painted Braun and Propson in a false light, harming their reputation.
Counts nine through 12 are all Trade Libel, claiming that the four defendants lied or misled people about Propson and Braun.
Count 13 is Tortious Interference with Contract against KC by Propson, stating that Propson had a contract with a documentary channel, but because of KC claiming that Propson is transphobic, Propson lost the contract.
Count 14 is Tortious Interference with Existing and Potential Business Relationships against all four defendants by Braun and Braun IP Law. It states that the defendants’ actions have lost Braun clients.
Count 15 is Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress against KC by Propson, claiming that KC meant to cause “severe emotional distress” to Propson and lists all the things Propson has been struggling with resulting from KC’s actions.
The final count, count 16, is also Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress by Propson but against Day, which essentially claims the same things as count 15.
The big question now is: was Janet filing false copyright strikes? The answer, allegedly, is probably. Anything that talks about Braun or Propson has been copyright struck by Braun. Braun herself claimed on her Instagram that she submitted 94 copyright strikes for at least the first half of January.
At least three creators have had their social media pages taken down entirely because of the amount of copyright strikes. One post by a creator Braun copyright struck read, “If anyone knows a lawyer specializing in tort litigation in Tennessee, please email me,” and then linked the creator’s email.
The post had nothing to do with Braun or any of her clients, nor any copyrighted material, but was struck anyway. In an upload by Smiles and Marston of their podcast, they talk about a previous upload where they included a video of Braun speaking, but despite the clip of Braun’s content only being in Smiles and Marston’s video for 20 seconds, Braun struck them for using an hour and two minutes of copyrighted content.
Right now we’re in lawsuit limbo, waiting for more information. Meanwhile, Propson is still posting on her Lauren the Mortician TikTok page, showing off the funeral home she allegedly works at and how things work behind the scenes, all while ignoring the lawsuit publicly.
