My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell fled the stage at his cyber symposium at the same time news broke that Dominion’s billion-dollar defamation lawsuit against him would proceed

• Mike Lindell fled the stage at his cyber symposium at the same time news broke that Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against him is going forward.
• A federal judge denied Lindell’s bid to dismiss the voting machine maker’s $1.3 billion lawsuit.
• Lindell is holding a 72-hour event in South Dakota to prove his election conspiracy theories.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell was seen dashing off the stage at his cyber symposium at the same time news broke that the $1.3 billion defamation suit filed against him by Dominion Voting Systems will go ahead.

Lindell attempted to have this defamation lawsuit against him dismissed during a hearing in June. But US District Judge Carl J. Nichols on August 11 ruled that the three defamation lawsuits against Lindell and Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, which are seeking more than a billion dollars in damages from each party, are slated to proceed in full.

Nichols noted in his judgment that the First Amendment offers “no blanket immunity” to Lindell in the Dominion lawsuit. The company alleges it was defamed by Lindell’s false claims that it rigged the election against Trump.

The judgment comes one day after Dominion filed lawsuits accusing right-wing media networks One America News and Newsmax of pushing false theories about the election.

Lindell is currently hosting a marathon 72-hour cyber symposium in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, from August 10 to August 12 in a bid to prove his election conspiracy theories.

After news that his attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed came out at around 6 p.m. on August 11, Lindell was seen on video getting off his seat and rushing off-stage abruptly, disappearing behind a dark curtain.

-John Whitehouse+ (@existentialfish) August 11, 2021

At press time, Lindell had not returned to the stage, and the live stream of the cyber symposium was replaced by a video reel showing news articles touting voter fraud claims next to an image of Lindell hugging a pillow.

Lindell told attendees on August 11 that he intended to stay on stage for three days straight.

“We’re not going on a break,” Lindell said. “You guys can go eat. That’s fine, but I ain’t eating! I’m staying up here for 72 hours.”

-Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) August 10, 2021

Zachary Petrizzo, a journalist from news outlet Salon who was covering the event, noted that Lindell was talking to a mostly empty hall on day two of the conference.

-Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) August 12, 2021

Insider has reached out to Mike Lindell for comment.