A University of Idaho professor has sued a TikTok psychic for falsely claiming the professor was involved in the killings of four students last month.
Rebecca Scofield, the chair of the university's history department, filed a lawsuit against Ashley Guillard, a self-styled Texas psychic who has been telling her more than 105,000 TikTok followers that Scofield was involved in the deaths.
Scofield sent multiple cease and desist letters to Guillard, who posted them on TikTok while continuing to accuse the professor of murder.
According to the lawsuit, Scofield never met the victims and was out of town when the attack occurred.
Guillard told The Spokesman-Review last month she has been building her "right brain" for years and, through tarot and other gifts, "can see things."
In one of her readings, Guillard said she saw the word "history." She said she then used Google to search the University of Idaho's history department web page. As chair of the department, Scofield's photos were the first to appear on screen. Based on that, Guillard said she decided the professor must be the killer.
Guillard has gained more than 20,000 followers and received millions of views since she began posting about the case. Before the lawsuit was filed, Guillard told The Spokesman-Review she's unconcerned with potential litigation from Scofield because Guillard was sure she's right, despite having no evidence.
Scofield said the online harassment and doxxing from Guillard and her viewers has been devastating.
"She's, like, torpedoing my life," Scofield said. "And for no apparent reason."
The lawsuit argues the statements by Guillard are defamatory and asks for damages to compensate Scofield for the effect on her reputation, and for emotional distress and punitive damages.
