James Watt Ex GirlFriend Secretly Ran Online Trolling Campaign

BrewDog[A multinational brewery and pub chain based in Ellon, Scotland] chief James Watt has been awarded £600,000 after he was scammed out of thousands of pounds by an ex-lover who was secretly orchestrating an online trolling campaign.

The beer tycoon, from Aberdeen, told how he was 'harassed, defrauded and defamed' by former girlfriend Emili Ziem, 29, in a 'vicious' smear attack.

Ziem conned Mr Watt, 40, out of more than £100,000 by claiming she could help identify culprits who were falsely accusing the businessman of harassing women and other criminal matters.

In reality, she was operating a fake social media profile spreading many of the lies.

Following a hearing at the Court of Session, Ziem has been ordered by judge Lord Brailsford to pay back the sum, plus half a million pounds in damages and expenses.

In a post on his LinkedIn profile yesterday, Mr Watt said: 'For the past two years I have been the subject of a vicious and relentless campaign of abuse, often by troll accounts posting and sharing appalling lies about me (often direct to family and friends) – lies that were then amplified all over the internet.

'It has taken a significant personal toll and been a massive distraction. I needed to do all I could to bring the campaign to an end.

'I want to say I didn't go to court lightly, but I have been harassed, defrauded and defamed, and it has deeply affected me, my family and my business. I had no choice.'

“At the outset I want to say I didn’t go to court lightly, but I have been harassed, defrauded and defamed, and it has deeply affected me, my family and my business. I had no choice.”

The court ruled con woman Ziem conducted a scam which saw her set up fake social media pages which would spread lies about unsuspecting Mr Watt.

The pair first had contact in 2020 on Instagram and met on several occasions while messaging regularly on Whatsapp.

In May 2021 many of Mr Watt’s Instagram friends received direct messages about him from an account under the name Laura Keller.

The DMs said that Mr Watt had “misled” women.

Some of the allegations even accused him of criminality which he entirely denied.

Initially he ignored the messages in the hope they would stop.

But later that month Ziem called him to say she had met one of his exes at a party. The woman told Ziem that a group of women were conspiring to “bring down” Mr Watt.

At the same time DMs continued to be sent to Mr Watt’s contacts with the false claims. Ziem and Mr Watt would speak regularly about who was behind them.

Ziem told him she was trying to find out who was responsible by befriending woman she suspected.

Later she would offer to find out who the trolls were for £25,000 each.

Mr Watt said: 'She was, in fact, a key part of a network involved in a campaign to do as much damage to me and my business as possible, spreading false and defamatory information with the objective of destroying me personally and damaging our business.'

In January, Mr Watt was the subject of a BBC Disclosure programme, The Truth About BrewDog, which set out to examine complaints from staff about the founder's behaviour towards women and the company's corporate culture. Mr Watt added: 'I hope the outcome of this case provides some context and begins to tell a slightly different story to what you may have read about BrewDog.'

James Watt also pledged to donate the full sum he is due to charity if payment is received.

Ziem said she had been advised not to comment while a separate action raised in England over the same incident remains ongoing.