NEW ORLEANS — For the first time since leaving his radio show, Seth Dunlap spoke publicly about the accusations and controversy surrounding the homophobic tweet sent from WWL Radio's account in September.
According to a search warrant obtained by The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate, a digital forensics firm hired by the radio station's owner, Entercom, examined Dunlap's cellphone and work laptop, which he returned to his now-former employer.
According to the warrant, the firm discovered searches on Dunlap's laptop, including a search for “Finding out who hacked your twitter,” on Sept. 12, as well as other similar inquiries. Two days earlier, someone had posted a homophobic message on WWL Radio’s Twitter account directed at Dunlap, who is openly gay.
Dunlap took a leave of absence from the radio station days after the tweet was sent.
Reached by phone Friday evening, Dunlap said “the searches are pretty explainable."
"I was also trying to figure out who did this," Dunlap said, referring to the homophobic tweet.
The internet search was just one factor the NOPD detailed in a warrant that led them to believe Dunlap was responsible for a count of extortion.
Dunlap, however, maintains his innocence, telling Eyewitness News "I did not do this."
He added, "My 18-year career will speak for itself."
While the NOPD recently tried to get a warrant to arrest Dunlap on an extortion charge, Magistrate Court Commissioner Robert Blackburn denied the request, telling detectives he did not believe the evidence supported the charge.
The warrant from Oct. 22, obtained by The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate, appears to bolster claims by WWL Radio that Dunlap was responsible for the tweet, which led him to demand nearly $2 million to settle hostile workplace-related complaints.
The warrant sought to let police examine Dunlap’s cellphone, including voice messages, text messages and photographs. It also sought to get DNA evidence.
But on Friday, Dunlap, 35, reiterated his claims about a pattern of discrimination at the station, which he said will eventually become apparent.
He and his then-attorney Megan Kiefer have also pointed to a lie-detector test Dunlap voluntarily took and passed, in which he was asked if he was somehow responsible for the offensive tweet.
The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate reports Kiefer is no longer representing Dunlap, and that Billy Gibbens is now his attorney.
The request for a warrant to search Dunlap's devices came after WWL Radio turned over to police results of its own investigation, after they hired a digital forensics expert to find out who posted the tweet.
Management alleged Dunlap had received wage garnishment letters at work and sent the tweet shortly before he demanded $1.8 million to drop plans for a “scorched earth” lawsuit against the station.
On Sept. 24, WWL Radio’s management took the information to the NOPD and filed an extortion complaint.
The station said the results of that investigation led them to Dunlap, and accused him of sending the tweet from his cellphone based on its IP address, a unique number given to cellphones and other pieces of hardware.
Dunlap also downloaded to the station laptop information from his own Twitter account, according to the forensics information provided to the NOPD.
The warrant also details a private message sent on Sept. 9, in which Dunlap said, “I have a feeling I won’t be employed here by next week after what I wrote.”
That message was in reference to a lengthy post on his personal Facebook page about his challenges as a gay man working in sports media. Just days after that post, the offensive tweet aimed at Dunlap went out from the station's account.
WWL Radio ended Dunlap’s leave on Oct. 31 and terminated his employment that same day.
While the NOPD earlier this month sought to obtain a warrant for Dunlap’s arrest, Blackburn, the magistrate commissioner, didn’t find the evidence backed up a charge of extortion, which is defined as making threats to a person “with the intention (to) obtain anything of value,” sources have said.
The decision left the New Orleans Police Department at a crossroads: The department could still pursue an arrest warrant alleging that Dunlap committed a different offense based on the same evidence, or it could revive its case for an extortion charge by bolstering its warrant application with more evidence.
New Orleans Advocate staff writer Ramon Antonio Vargas contributed to this report.