Pistons' Drummond sued for tweet about customized car

A Detroit auto customizer and detailer has sued Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond because of a Twitter comment after working on his Mercedes-Benz S550.

The lawyer for Bobby Joumaa, owner of Dynamic Customs in Detroit, said Tuesday night that Drummond's critical Twitter comment had hurt the business.

"He started badmouthing my client on Twitter, saying my client almost killed him and he was in a dangerous situation with his car and none of it was true," lawyer Alex Benson said. "The problem is Drummond has a million followers on his Twitter page."

The dispute started when Drummond took his car to Dynamic Customs for customization. At first he was pleased with Joumaa's work. "Big thanks to @bobbyjoumaa for doing a great job on my car. Check them out!!" Drummond tweeted on March 12, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in Wayne County Circuit Court.

Things apparently turned on a second visit when a dispute arose over a custom job on the car's seats.

The seats had to be removed to complete the work and, according to Benson, Joumaa warned Drummond that a dealership would charge to reprogram the airbags.

"He didn't care," Benson said, "because he had wanted the seats done in this custom black-and-red leather."

Benson said Drummond later insisted that Joumaa refund the entire cost of the customization or he would ruin his business through social media.

The suit said Drummond told his nearly 1 million Twitter followers in early May: "If you are from MI, NEVER EVER go to @DynamicCustoms to get your car worked on. They have done things to my car that could have cost my life."

Joumaa seeks damages in excess of $25,000.

Joumaa was worked with other professional athletes and apparently fears Drummond's tweet will hurt future business prospects and could ruin his business.

"And that was his biggest fear that if Andre Drummond badmouths him like he did, it would really damage his business and it is damaging his business," Benson said. "He's basically put a hit on his business to a million people and other professional athletes when in fact what he's claiming is totally untrue."

Pistons spokesman Kevin Grigg declined comment and referred questions to Drummond's agent, Jeff Schwartz. A phone message from the Free Press was left at New York-based Excel Management, the sports management and marketing agency where Schwartz is the founder and president.

Contact Vince Ellis: vellis@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @vincent_ellis56.