Kentucky lender accused of defamation by Uncle Nearest founder. What lawsuit says
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Weaver, her husband and Grant Sidney sue Farm Credit Mid‑America for defamation.
- Farm Credit sued in Tennessee, saying the $20M transfer was mischaracterized.
- Receiver says company insolvent, $200M in debt; disputes over barrels, Martha’s Vineyard.
The Kentucky lender at the center of the ongoing Uncle Nearest legal saga is now facing a defamation lawsuit.
Fawn Weaver, founder of the troubled whiskey and bourbon brand, filed a defamation lawsuit on March 17 against Farm Credit Mid-America, headquartered in Louisville.
Farm Credit, which has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit, declined to comment.
The lawsuit, which is in New York, was filed by Weaver, her husband, Keith, and the business entity, Grant Sidney. Grant Sidney, owned by Fawn Weaver, is the largest shareholder in Uncle Nearest.
Why the lawsuit was filed in New York isn’t clear; according to the complaint, the claims “arise from acts committed in New York and/or causing injury in New York ... including communications and business relationships centered in New York.”
The Weavers said in the lawsuit they have suffered lost contracts, withdrawn investments, partnerships and business opportunities, including “loss of millions in anticipated financing” as a result of Farm Credit’s statements.
They are seeking damages and “a permanent inunction prohibiting further dissemination of the false statements and an order requiring retraction or correction where appropriate.”
The lawsuit is the latest legal battlefront in the ongoing Uncle Nearest saga that began when Farm Credit sued last summer, alleging that the Weavers and Uncle Nearest had defaulted on $100 million in loans.
Since then the whiskey brand and distillery has been in the hands of a receiver, who has said the company is insolvent and about $200 million in debts.
Fawn Weaver has been attempted to regain control of her whiskey brand. Meanwhile, the receiver has moved to expand the receivership to include more Weaver-controlled businesses, including Grant Sidney, which is involved in a disputed loan from media mogul Jay-Z’s MarcyPen venture capital firm.
On Tuesday, Weaver attempted an end-run around the receivership by filing bankruptcy petitions, but the receiver has moved to have the bankruptcy petitions thrown out and have her sanctioned by the federal judge.
The New York lawsuit blamed Farm Credit for Uncle Nearest’s financial difficulties, saying the lender was “negligent.”
Weaver alleges that Uncle Nearest’s chief financial officer was “the primary point of contact” for financial reporting and that the bank “repeatedly approved substantial draws based on representations from the CFO without independently confirming authorization with the CEO.” According to the lawsuit, a “subsequent internal investigation revealed significant misconduct by the CFO, including misreporting and irregular accounting entries.”
The lawsuit alleges that Farm Credit “circulated serious allegations” concerning (the Weavers) and related entities including:
- That $20 million had been “improperly commingled through transfers involving Grant Sidney,”
- That “roughly $21,000,000 in whiskey barrels were missing;”
- And that “loan proceeds were misused to acquire a residence on Martha’s Vineyard.”
According to the filing, the $20 million transfers from Grant Sidney to Uncle Nearest “were properly documented and corresponded to payments for the benefit of Uncle Nearest.”
The bank, in filings in its own lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Tennessee, has said the Weavers “egregiously mischaracterized” the disputed $20 million transaction and how much the bank knew about the details.
The bank has accused Fawn Weaver of attempting to hide the money and avoid tax liability. According to Farm Credit’s Tennessee filing, Fawn Weaver told Farm Credit the $20 million was a loan from Grant Sidney, when in fact it came from an outside source, MP-Tenn LLC, also sometimes referred to as MarcyPen.
MarcyPen is a venture capital firm formed in late 2024 and owned by Jay-Z, Jay Brown, Larry Marcus and Robbie Robinson, along with D’Rita Robinson. Jay-Z is a rapper, businessman and record executive married to Beyoncé.
“The Weaver Parties attempt to imply (incorrectly) that FCMA was in no way misled at the time. FCMA was considerably misled,” the bank said.
The accounts that were used to move the investment around to, in Fawn Weaver’s words, keep it from being “snatched” by the bank, were not known to the bank or to the receiver until recently, according to court filings.
“Ms. Weaver’s own testimony shows that Grant Sidney — the largest shareholder of Uncle Nearest — whose sole stockholder is also the CEO of Uncle Nearest (Ms. Weaver) and exercises complete control of both entities, orchestrated and executed a scheme to perpetuate the violation of Uncle Nearest’s legal duty, or to commit a dishonest and unjust act in contravention of FCMA’s rights,” the bank said in the Tennessee case.
The whiskey barrels that the Weavers said that Farm Credit alleged were missing “always remained in their designated storage locations,” according to the New York lawsuit.
But the bank has said the issue was that the barrels were improperly included as still among Uncle Nearest’s assets.
According to the Tennessee filing, Uncle Nearest “fraudulently reported” $21 million in barrels of whiskey in its collateral inventory that were committed under a borrowing agreement to another company, Advanced Spirits.
The Weavers also alleged in the New York lawsuit that the bank “was aware of details about Martha’s Vineyard property, including its ownership, purpose, and visits by their representatives. Defendant’s public claim that the property was secretly bought using loan funds is untrue.”
Farm Credit has alleged that the Weavers purchased the house using the Farm Credit’s money but then also took out a separate mortgage and didn’t tell the bank.
The receiver is attempting to sell the Martha’s Vineyard house, which costs a significant amount in upkeep, for $2.6 million to pay off that second mortgage and repay the overage to Farm Credit. The Weavers have opposed this transaction and have offered a different deal involving former NBA players (who are also Uncle Nearest investors) who would assume the second mortgage and pay $900,000 to Farm Credit.
According to the New York lawsuit, the Weavers and Grant Sidney have suffered “loss of investor confidence, withdrawal of financing discussions, disruption of distribution relationships and quantifiable economic losses to the value of their equity and expected revenues.
