‘Zoey 101’ Alum Alexa Nicholas Settles Defamation Suit Against Former NBC News Correspondent Kat Tenbarge

Zoe 101 Alum Alexa Nichols said she has settled her defamation lawsuit against former NBC News correspondent Kat Tenbarge, who posted a lengthy apology on social media.

Nicholas sued Tenbarge in September, accusing her of defamation that included sharing records about Drake Bell, another Nickelodeon alumni. Nicholas and Bill are engaged in 2024 Quiet on the set A docu-series examining the toxic behaviors on some of the biggest kids shows of the 90s and 2000s.

“This lawsuit concerns a preacher masquerading as a journalist,” the lawsuit stated. Tenbarge “falsely stated that Alexa publicly disclosed sealed court documents and police records to attack a minor victim alleging sexual assault. None of this was true. The court documents and police records were public. Alexa — a well-known advocate for survivors of sexual assault and assault — did not attack the victim. Instead, Alexa reviewed court documents and police records — throwing the public narrative surrounding the minor victim’s allegations into question.”

“To promote this false narrative and obtain negative information about Alexa at all costs, Tenbarge facilitated Alexa’s stalker to violate the restraining order against him. Furthermore, Tenbarge relied on anonymous and other clearly biased sources to further its false narrative about Alexa. When Alexa provided information to Tenbarge showing that the court documents and police records in question were public, Tenbarge ignored that information.”

“This lawsuit seeks to hold Tenbarge accountable for knowingly and intentionally prioritizing the spread of false narratives over the truth to enhance her public standing.”

Nicholas had previously posted in 2024: “Kat lied to everyone. Tarnished my reputation. With malicious intent. These documents that were shared privately with her via Gdrive when I questioned her were not sealed. I sent them to show her they are not sealed. They are redacted public records.”

Nicholas was seeking damages of at least $150,000 along with punitive damages and the cost of her attorney’s fees.

On Saturday, Nicholas posted that the two parties had settled.

“Kat Tenbarg and I have reached a settlement. This is her written apology. The truth always wins. I will be making a video in the coming days,” she wrote on X.

Nicholas linked to Tenbarge’s X post, where the latter issued a lengthy apology along with her version of the mistake she made. It is unclear whether a public apology is part of the settlement.

“On March 9, 2024, a few days ago Quiet on the set It was broadcast and series producer W Business insider “Journalist Kate Taylor sent Nicholas a number of redacted Ohio court and police records regarding fellow documentary co-star Drake Bell,” Tenbarg wrote. “Taylor obtained these documents through a records request. The documents were not obtained from Bell or his attorney. More than a month later, Nicholas shared these documents with me as part of her response to a series of questions I sent her regarding a proposed article, which was never published. In response to these questions, Nicholas provided me with redacted Ohio court and police records related to Mr. Bell. Finally, in September 2024, I responded to posts and live broadcasts Nicholas made on X and YouTube about me and this proposed article with A series of my own comments. In these comments, I incorrectly stated that the Bill documents that Nicholas shared with me were sealed records and posted personally identifiable information about the victim. However, these documents are not sealed and do not contain the victim’s personal identifying information. They are public records and all personal identifying information has been redacted. I regret this error and commit to being more careful in the future. Since I made these comments online, I know the true nature of these documents and how Nicholas obtained them.

Tenbarge wrote that she “understands.”[s] That my comments caused Nicholas discomfort and may have affected her reputation.

“Third parties, including my friends Adam McIntyre and Ovie Duque, have included this misinformation in their own videos and have called for any such videos to be taken down,” she added.

“I apologize to Alexa for any harm my comments caused her,” she wrote.

Additionally, Tenbarge retracted previous questioning of Nicholas about her group Eat Predators, which aims to end “the cover-up of sexual assault and predatory behavior in the music and entertainment industry,” according to her website. Tinberg had asked Nicholas, the group’s founder, about “the conflicts related to this group.”

“I now understand that Alexa was solely responsible for creating Eat Predators and that she did not exploit other members’ ideas,” Tenbarg wrote. “Not only did she represent the group as an ambassador, she led the group. … The conflicts that ensued were not started by Alexa, but by other individuals. Notably, there has been no evidence that Alexa defrauded Eat Predators members, including through the group’s Patreon account.”

It added that it used information posted by X accounts called “Rich Shaming” and “Abuse of Power” that made “false, unsubstantiated, and unsubstantiated comments about Alexa and Eat Predators.” She admitted that she had not verified or verified those allegations against Nicholas, and that she was also “biased against Alexa.”

“I regret any interactions I had with these accounts or any misplaced trust in the content they posted or otherwise interacted with,” she wrote. “Relying on or interacting with these accounts causes real harm, and for that I also apologize. I will exercise greater judgment in handling and trusting anonymous accounts in the future.”

Tinbarg also apologized for a series of questions about a retraining order made by Nicholas against a pursuer, and specifically some of the allegations the person had made against Nicholas. “I realize these questions were harmful to Alexa’s well-being and I apologize for asking them,” she wrote.

Tenbarge finished with a list of things she promises to do better in the future regarding her job.

“I regret any further lapses in judgment that may have occurred during this process, and I will do better moving forward,” she wrote. “I will independently verify claims made by anonymous accounts, treat source biases more sensitively, and exercise skepticism around these types of sources. I will also exercise greater caution when dealing with biased sources or people proven to harm others.”

Tenbarge was laid off from her job as a technology and culture correspondent at NBC News in February 2025 after three years at the news outlet. She continued launching her own newsletter, spitfire news, Which focuses on “internet culture, politics and media,” according to its BlueSky account.