Dynamis client Marciano Brunette sues Demi Engemann and Production Company for Defamation Over Sexual Assault Claims
The team at Dynamis LLP — Eric Rosen, Jamie Solano, Brooke Watson, Caroline McHugh, and Annabelle Simmons — have filed a complaint in federal district court in Utah against Demi Engemann of “Mormon Wives” and the Jeff Jenkins Production Company.
What the complaint says
Marciano Brunette alleges in the complaint filed in Utah federal court that Demi Engemann and Jeff Jenkins Productions destroyed his reputation by branding him a “sexual predator” and accusing him of sexual assault based on an encounter that was consensual, brief, and later twisted into something it wasn’t.
His story is simple: Demi and Marciano met while filming Vanderpump Villa in Italy in August 2024, flirted, talked privately, and kissed consensually. He says she even told him “I love you,” and he responded in kind. He says there was no non-consensual contact, no assault, and nothing “predatory” about any of it.
Scroll down to the bottom for a copy of the complaint or click the link to download.
The “this wasn’t assault” facts Marciano puts front and center
Marciano leans hard on what happened after Italy. He says Engemann kept a friendly, ongoing relationship with him for months. According to the complaint, she:
called him repeatedly (including long calls and multiple calls in a day),
FaceTimed him, including at least one call involving her daughter,
exchanged extensive texts (over a hundred pages),
invited him to events and talked about him visiting Utah and Los Angeles,
and shared phone location data with him as late as March 2025.
The complaint includes screenshots of messages that are meant to show warmth and familiarity, not fear or avoidance. Marciano’s point: that pattern looks like continued voluntary contact and friendship, not the behavior of someone reacting to sexual assault.
When the story flips (his timeline of escalation)
Marciano says Engemann didn’t publicly accuse him of assault for months. The complaint frames the turning point as April 2025, right before Vanderpump Villa footage featuring them aired.
After Marciano posted a TikTok implying she feared he’d tell her husband “the truth,” Engemann allegedly responded by calling him a “sexual predator” who “can’t keep his hands to himself.”
She allegedly escalated by suggesting other women would “come forward,” and by defining “unwanted physical touch = assault. PERIOD.”
In May 2025, Marciano says she gave shifting accounts: publicly telling a reporter “nothing happened” in Italy, while also telling a large podcast audience she was “groped” and “sexually assaulted,” which the complaint says reasonably pointed back to him given the Vanderpump Villa context.
Marciano’s theory is motive plus convenience: the more public scrutiny she faced about flirting, kissing, and storyline fallout, the more she allegedly reframed a consensual moment into “sexual misconduct” and then “sexual assault.”
What Marciano says the producer did
Marciano sues the production company because he says it amplified and profited from the accusation.
He claims Jeff Jenkins Productions took Engemann’s claims and built a major Season 3 storyline around them, repeatedly airing and republishing the “sexual predator” and assault claims while cutting him out and denying him a meaningful chance to respond.
He also claims the producer had plenty of warning signs and contrary information, including:
cast skepticism aired on camera (including a castmate saying she was lying),
facts inconsistent with assault (like continued communication, including with children),
and the ability to investigate using extensive filmed footage from the chateau environment described as heavily recorded.
The complaint also points to an interview where Lisa Vanderpump allegedly said she had seen “every ounce” of relevant footage and categorically knew what happened. Marciano uses that to reinforce his position that the “assault” narrative does not match what the cameras show.
The specific statements he says are defamatory
Marciano puts several buckets of statements in the “defamation” pile:
calling him a “sexual predator” who “can’t keep his hands to himself,”
claiming he committed “sexual assault,” “groping,” or “two ass grabs” (aired in episodes and reiterated),
later claiming he “grabbed” her “privates” (first raised much later),
and suggesting there’s a pattern and that other women will come forward.
He says these aren’t opinions or insults. They accuse him of serious criminal sexual conduct, which is why he pleads defamation per se and defamation by implication.
The legal claims (high-level)
The complaint asserts (1) defamation, (2) defamation per se, (3) defamation by implication, (4) false light, (5) tortious interference (against Engemann), and (6) business disparagement (against Engemann). It seeks damages, fees/costs, and a narrowly tailored injunction against repeating statements adjudicated defamatory.
A complaint is only an accusation, and the claims must still be proven in court. For more information about the case, contact Eric Rosen.
