WP Engine’s lawyers have issued a cease and desist letter to Automattic after the latter’s CEO criticized the company for profiting from the WordPress project without giving back.
Speaking at the WordCamp US Summit, Matt Mullenweg described WP Engine as a “cancer to WordPress” for exploiting the open-source project.
WP Engine’s lawyers have now revealed Mullenweg’s comments came in response to the CEO’s failed attempt to coerce WP Engine into paying Automattic millions to license the WordPress trademark in the runup to his keynote.
“Today WP Engine sent what is called a “cease and desist” letter to Automattic demanding that Automattic and its CEO Matt Mullenweg stop making and retract false, harmful and disparaging statements against WP Engine,” the company confirmed in a post on X.
It also responded to accusations that WP Engine has not contributed sufficiently to the open-source project, adding that it has contributed tens of millions of dollars through events, sponsorships and the development of educational resources.
The company claimed Mullenweg wanted to launch a “scorched earth nuclear approach” if WP Engine were to fail to hand over tens of millions. Its lawyers also uncover a call between Automattic CFO Mark Davies and a WP Engine board member, alleging that Davies warned Automattic would “go to war.”
The letter from WP Engine’s lawyers also shows extracts of threatening emails sent from Mullenweg days before the event, indicative of his “nuclear” approach.
WP Engine and its lawyers are now demanding that Mullenweg and Automattic “cease and desist from disparaging WP Engine and/or its investor by making false factual statements” as well as remove false statements from public channels.
Automattic is yet to issue an official response, but WP Engine’s letter warns of potential legal action if Mullenweg does not retract his statements. TechRadar Pro has contacted Automattic to comment on the matter, but we did not receive an immediate response.
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