Jonathan Knight and The Trustees: The Never-ending Dispute

Since Jonathan Knight let his Twitter followers know on March, about the law suit filed by the Trustees against him, the dispute has reached the media in three occasions.

The dispute, involves Jonathan Knight’s property in Essex (which is managed by Scott Harmon) and it has been unfolding for years.

Here’s an account of the events after Jon’s first tweets.

An Awkward Inspection

On April, Knight informed his followers about the annual inspection that had been taking place on his property, where he was asked about his neighbors properties and learned that the Trustees don’t even know Jon’s property lines.

“Very awkward annual inspection of my property this past week by @thetrustees. They asked us about things on my neighbors property! Sad that CEO @John_Judge said on my insta page they have been diligent stewards for 45 years… yet they don’t even know our property lines. 🤦🏻‍♂️”

@JonathanRKnight / Twitter

Donations And Discrimination

Later on May, after having hit the road with the Mixtape Tour, and having premiered a sneak peek of the second season of his HGTV show “Farmhouse Fixer” during the first concert in Cincinnati, he began noticing how The Trustees was reaching out to the media.

After The Gloucester Daily Times published the article “Late MAC owner donates 30 acres to Trustees“, Jon shared the link adding,

“Nice article about my neighbor @thetrustees @John_Judge.
Looks like if you donate land you get treated fairly and don’t get sued. Seems corrupt to me.”

@JonathanRKnight / Twitter

A few days later, Jon tweeted again adding an image of the amendment,

“@thetrustees trying to get me to amend my conservation restriction… if you are mobility challenged you will need permission to access my property! 2 tractors 3 lawnmowers and 2 rototillers cross my land weekly🤦🏻‍♂️ @John_Judge this is total #discrimination”

@JonathanRKnight / Twitter

The Trustees React to Jonathan Knight’s Tweets

The Trustees’ lawyer reacted to Jon’s tweets, and he responded with three tweets on a road:

“Dear Kate,@trustess lawyer.
Why are you surprised I am tweeting?
The organization you represent is the most difficult and non transparent non profit. They have guided me and I’ve followed, only to be sued. Get your facts straight. And stop making landowners look bad.”

@JonathanRKnight / Twitter

Dear Kate,@thetrustees lawyer:
Happy to move this to discovery phase so we can expose all the lies your organization have given me the past 6 years. Your big powerful non profit that makes millions, doesn’t scare me!

@JonathanRKnight / Twitter

The Dispute on The Media

On June 1st, Boston 25 News published the article “‘New Kids on the Block’ member in legal battle over land on his block“, making an account of how the dispute has been unfolding for years and interviewing Jon.

“‘Originally, all I asked was to move the house off the main road to a place that’s a little more quiet,’ he told Kavanaugh.

Now, almost six years later, The Trustees are suing him.”

Boston 25 News

Jon thanked for the interview tweeting,

Thanks Fox news and @KerryKavanaugh for helping bring my plight to the publics attention.
While the @trustees response isn’t completely true, their lies will be exposed after we depose their employees as they hide behind their attorneys.
Of course they can still lie under oath.

@JonathanRKnight / Twitter

Later on June 6, Mike Cronin, for The Gloucester Daily Times published the article, “Essex pop star sued by Trustees of Reservations in Land Court“, to which Jon reacted with a tweet:

And so, the paper and Mike Cronin agreed to Jon’s complaint.

On NKOTB’s latest day off (June 20), Jonathan Knight – after having spent another day of shooting for the second season of Farmhouse Fixer – shared on Twitter (without adding a single word) the link to an article by the Gloucester Daily Times, where the voice of Scott Harmon was brought to the light. The article, written also by Mike Cronin, is titled “Essex landowner fights Trustees lawsuit.”