Al Sharpton Warns He 'Won't Be Silenced' After Nolan Wells' Friends Threaten to Sue Him Over His Remarks About Teen's Drowning Death
Al Sharpton has responded to threats of a defamation lawsuit from friends of Nolan Wells.
Sept. 3 2026, Published 2:45 p.m. ET
Rev. Al Sharpton has fired back at threats that three friends of Nolan Wells plan to sue him for defamation over comments he made about the 18-year-old's death, RadarOnline.com can report.
The outspoken civil rights leaders said he has no plans to back down after attorneys sent a 19-page pre-suit demand letter on behalf of Morgan Seymour, Jax Pitalo, and Warren Hudson.
Nolan Wells' Friends Threaten to Sue Al Sharpton
Wells went missing during a holiday boat trip with his friends.
Wells went missing on the 4th of July after going on a boat trip with friends to Horn Island, Mississippi. Authorities believe the teen stayed behind on the island after his friends left, and he may have drowned. His body was recovered on July 6 near the island.
However, Sharpton has publicly questioned why Wells' friends not only left him, but also took his phone and keys, and then failed to report him missing.
The 71-year-old suggested the trio may know more than they have revealed – charges that resulted in the teens' parents threatening to sue.
On Tuesday, Sept 1, Sharpton shot back, slamming the boys' impending lawsuit as "meritless" and exclaiming he'll "neither be silenced nor retract statements he did not make."
Al Sharpton Won't Back Down
Sharpton inferred the friends may not have been truthful about what they know.
Sharpton's attorneys pushed back against the allegations in a 15-page response, arguing that the civil rights leader never accused the three men of murder or any other crime. Instead, they said, his comments were merely about unanswered questions surrounding the ongoing investigation into Wells' death.
"Reverend Sharpton did not insert himself into this family's grief. He was asked," his attorneys wrote, according to NOLA.com. "He is an ordained Baptist minister, and he stands with (Wells' parents) Christine Wells-Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley in that capacity."
The attorneys also rejected demands that Sharpton apologize, retract his statements, and delete a prayer vigil he held for Wells.
"It asks Reverend Sharpton to apologize to three young men for having asked why an eighteen-year-old died," the filing continued. "It asks him to retract questions that Nolan's own mother raised on national television four days before he repeated them."
Al Sharpton Still Has Questions for Nolan Wells' Friends
The teen boys' attorneys fired off a letter to Sharpton demanding he apologize.
Sharpton has threatened his own countersuit and further said in a statement: "This is not going to distract us from the question that brought us here: What happened to Nolan Wells?
"His parents buried their 18-year-old son without knowing how or why he died. They asked me to stand with them, and I will continue to stand with them until they get the answers they deserve."
As Radar first reported, the boys' attorneys claim Sharpton repeatedly suggested the three young men knew more about Wells' death, including during an August 13 appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists conference.
"I don't know what happened. But I got your history of Mississippi," Sharpton said at the event. "And the history tells me: Black boy (who) goes out with three White kids. Three White kids come back. There's a blurred story on what happened."
"Some of this don't make sense given (Mississippi's) history," he added.
Nolan Wells' Friends Speak Out Against Ongoing Questions
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The friends maintain they had nothing to do with Wells' death.
At an August 19 online vigil for what would have been Wells' 19th birthday, Sharpton again raised questions about what the friends allegedly knew.
"What the friends knew, when they knew it, why they didn't hand over the cellphone over right away when it was clear he was not back with them, the keys, all of that needs to be litigated," he said.
The attorneys said those comments falsely implied that Seymour, Pitalo, and Hudson were involved in Wells' death, withheld or altered his phone, concealed his keys, or obstructed the investigation.
They also claimed none of the three pals ever possessed, accessed, or erased data from Wells' phone. One of Wells' closest friends told conservative YouTuber Brandon Tatum that Wells left the items behind because he didn't want them to get wet in the water.
"No one even was in contact with his phone until it was moved from the boat to the truck, and none of us have access to Nolan's password to get on his phone and delete anything," said Hudson. "We had no reason to delete anything. There's nothing to hide here."
