Game Of Thrones star Joseph Gatt has filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Police Department, and L.A. District Attorney George Gascón, among others, over false paedophile charges.

The actor, who played the Thenn Warg in season four of the HBO fantasy series, is suing the defendants for $40million (£31.6million) in relation to the dismissed charges against him.

In the lawsuit, shared by Entertainment Weekly, Gatt claims the defendants “publicly branded him as a serial paedophile,” which in turn ruined his reputation and career. Gatt also alleges Deputy District Attorney Angela Brunson held “personal bias and animosity” towards him.

“The arrest and charges against Mr. Gatt — for which he was branded by the Los Angeles DA and LAPD as a serial paedophile — were based on fabricated evidence,” Dean Z. Pamphilis, a partner with Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, said in a statement (via EW).

Gatt was arrested in April 2022 and accused of allegedly “engaging in sexually explicit online communication with a minor in another state”. The interaction with the minor, the lawsuit claims, resulted from a Cameo Gatt recorded for a 16-year-old fan’s birthday.

The fan, who lived in Washington state, then allegedly contacted Gatt on Instagram a number of times and Gatt “responded in a manner that was wholly appropriate and consistent with typical celebrity-fan exchanges.”

Gatt appeared in court in October 2023 where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. He remained free on bail after paying a $5,000 (£4,138) bond.

The lawsuit further claims that Gatt never actually met the teen fan and the defendants failed to “interview or even remotely assess for credibility” until nearly one year after Gatt’s arrest.

“Twenty months later, when the fabricated evidence was finally disclosed to Mr. Gatt and Mr. Gatt’s forensic expert were prepared to expose the truth in open court, the Los Angeles DA voluntarily dismissed the criminal complaint,” the statement continued. “Mr. Gatt, however, had already lost his community, his acting career, and his personal reputation. We look forward to recovering Mr. Gatt’s enormous losses in court.”

In other Game Of Thrones news, Hannah Waddingham recently revealed that she was once waterboarded “for 10 hours” while filming a scene with Cersei Lannister actress Lena Headey.