VC Shervin Pishevar, who resigned after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, has dropped a lawsuit alleging a smear campaign

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Venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar has dropped his lawsuit that alleged a company called Definers Public Affairs has been conducting a smear campaign against him.
When Pishevar first filed the lawsuit, Definers called such allegations "delusional."
Pishevar resigned from his role at the VC firm he co-founded after six woman accused Pishevar of sexual misconduct.

Venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar is back-peddling on his allegations that a company called Definers Public Affairs has been conducting a smear campaign against him. He dropped his lawsuit against Definers on Friday.

Definers is known for doing opposition research on behalf of Republican politicians, but it also does consulting work for companies, helping them with government issues.

Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, several women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Pishevar. In the middle of all of that, there was this strange, faked London police report distributed to various publications. The document was not real, the London police said, but the underlying event it discussed did occur, Pishevar admitted. It was an allegation of rape. The London police confirmed that such an allegation was made against Pishevar, and that he was questioned, released and never charged with the crime.

Pishevar is as a venture investor who is probably best known as a co-founder of high-speed transportation project Hyperloop One, where he is executive chairman and as an investor in Uber, the richly valued ride-hailing company. He was a very outspoken advocate for former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, who was ousted from the role last year amid reports of a toxic work culture.

Although Pishevar is no longer alleging that Definers was behind a smear campaign, he still believes someone is smearing him. Here's his statement:

"Today I filed a request to dismiss the Definers lawsuit. No damages were paid. I now intend to continue to focus my full attention on those who should ultimately be held responsible for the smear campaign that has been waged against me, including the falsification and distribution of the fraudulent London police report. The fraudulent police report is being investigated by law enforcement so we are hopeful the culprits will be found and justice will be served."

Definers' Tim Miller told Fast Company: "The suit has been dismissed with prejudice and no damages were paid as the allegations against Definers were untrue. We are pleased to have this behind us."

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