By Dennis McCaslin - Today in Fort Smith
FORT SMITH – Creative Babble’s founder Javier Leiva has made a name for himself in the podcasting world with his popular production, Pretend, which explores tales of deception and intrigue.
However, serious concerns are now surfacing over Leiva’s recent decision to partner with a controversial figure, Anthony Christopher, whose legal and criminal history paints a deeply troubling picture.
Christopher’s background includes accusations of Medicaid fraud by multiple individuals, detailed in recent court records. But that’s not where the concerns end. Jennifer Powers, a former associate, also filed a lawsuit against Christopher over a disputed piece of property.
Although the case never reached a formal trial, Christopher was compelled to settle with Powers out of court, a move some say speaks volumes about his approach to business ethics.
Yet, the allegations don’t stop at fraud and property disputes. Just recently, documents have surfaced linking Christopher to an alleged assault on a man named Anthony Dewey, who claims he was drugged and attacked at Christopher’s nightclub, Eureka Live.
Shockingly, Christopher’s defense in the case reportedly relied on his assertion that he was suffering from monkeypox (mpox) at the time—a condition marked by a viral infection that causes symptoms such as fever, muscle aches, and a distinctive rash, but raises more questions than answers about his alibi and involvement.
You can read the entire police file on the alleged sexual assault by clicking this link:
Christopher has been the subject of a number of other controversies over the past several years. At one point he was married to another NWA man who had children from a previous marriage. After a series of bizarre events, Christopher was banned by a district judge from having contact with those children.
At another point, Christopher attempted to host "Family Friendly Drag Queen Night" at Eureka Live before public outrage thwarted his efforts.
He was also accused at one point by a former employee of the nightclub who worked a number of days with Covid of coercing him into silence so not to negatively affect the business. That same former employee said in a deposition that Christopher bragged to him about "fixing" the judge in a civil case in which he won a kangaroo court judgement in 2019.
At one point, another NWA man filed a lawsuit against Christoper and several others after he claims they "stole" Eureka Live from him and changed the locks on the club, refusing to let him access the cash in the building and his personal effects.
Despite this extensive record, Leiva has continued his association with Christopher, a partnership that remains unexplained. Leiva has absolutely no qualms with reporting unfounded allegations against the subjects of his spurious podcast...why does he not hold his partner in slander and defamation to the same standard?
Why would Pretend, a podcast dedicated to unveiling the truth about deceptive practices, sidestep discussing Christopher’s murky background? Could this partnership suggest that Creative Babble, and Pretend, are ignoring or even condoning these allegations?
Or is the entire "Pretend" franchise just a pay-for-play folly and Leiva wants to maintain the golden goose association with Christopher?
For Fort Smith residents who may know more about Christopher’s past dealings or misdeeds, Today and Fort Smith is calling for your input. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact us directly, as the community deserves to know the truth behind those shaping the content they consume.
Our coverage of this unfolding story will continue. For now, the questions stand: why isn’t Leiva and his team at Pretend willing to address the accusations against Christopher?
And does their silence suggest a troubling indifference to the nature of the allegations at hand?
Stay tuned as we investigate further.
