Law Student of the Day: He Says He's Not Dating Rihanna, And He's Not Gay. Not That There's Anything Wrong With That.

Friday afternoon, we brought you the story of a law student who was allegedly dating pop star Rihanna. The rumor was posted on the blog Bossip. But the student, Janero Marchand, vehemently denied the rumor on his twitter account.
We posted some of Janero’s tweets in our story on Friday. Predictably, Above the Law commenters constructed an entire caricature of Janero’s intellectual prowess based on those few tweets. This was one common commenter message:

From his tweets, I don’t think legal writing will be his strong point.

Others pointed out the dangers of tweeting in a difficult job market:

I think he should provide a link to his twitter page on his resume when he does 2L recruiting.

Bossip also took the opportunity to take extra shots at Janero. After we pointed out Marchand’s denial, Bossip offered this reasoning:

According to a new source Rihanna’s “alleged” man whose former name was Aaron may be gay. Which could explain his hasty response to our story and the tweet from Dollicia denying their relationship as well.

Jesus. The scorn of ATL and wild accusations from Bossip? It’s been a pretty exciting September for this 1L. After the jump, Janero Marchand responds to Above the Law.

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Given all the information and misinformation swirling around out there, we asked Janero Marchand to set the record straight. Here’s what he says is going on:

First I want to say that I think Rihanna is a gorgeous woman with incredible talent, trendsetting style, and undeniable beauty. I was flattered and honored that a blog wanted to link me with her, but I am an honest guy and I am not dating her. Also I am 100% heterosexual with a steady girlfriend. I don’t have anything against those who live an alternative lifestyle, but I am NOT one. While I am currently a first year law student, I did work behind the scenes in the entertainment industry previously, as a publicist, assisting models Dollicia Bryan and Amber Rose as well as other models and actresses.

During my 1L year I reached the quarter finals of a beer pong tournament. It was really crazy though! Man, I guess you had to be there.
Anyway, Marchand goes on to slam Bossip:

Secondly, the other accusations that were made against me on Bossip were unconscionable, unscrupulous, and malicious blatant attacks to try and slander me, all of the information in their second posting of me was false. Their journalism lacked credibility, ethics, and integrity three things as a future lawyer I try to practice. There were no pictures or evidence that corroborated or supported any of their “claims” to be true. I think it was unfortunate that Bossip seized a moment to try and assassinate my character, reputation, and sexuality with false information for more readership and shock value.

Marchand claims that he has contacted Bossip about their posting, but the site declined to print a retraction.
Meanwhile, Marchand seems to have taken the ATL commenter criticism about his tweets in stride:

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In closing, with regards to my poor grammar usage on twitter. Looking back I myself was appalled at how abhorrent my grammar was on twitter. I am ashamed that people will remember me most for writing that. I apologize for that, but during that time period I had twenty-five missed calls, and thirty text messages all alerting me about being plastered on a popular blog, and asking did I leave my current girlfriend for Rihanna, so I panicked without thinking. Contrary to popular belief, in person, I am very educated, articulate, and enunciation is something I pride myself in.

As I suspected, the manner way in which a person tweets is likely to be different than the way a person writes a statement for Above the Law.
In any event, the lesson here seems to be: 1L Crim Law > People thinking you date Rihanna.
If there are any other 1Ls who are not dating famous people, let us know.
*Update*: Rihanna’s New Man Piece May Belong to Someone Else [Bossip]
Earlier: Law Student of the Day: He Says He’s Not Dating Rihanna, But Everybody Thinks He Is