Here’s what Allen said in her initial post:

Last post on someone i’m completely over. I’ve never been lonelier in my entire life. To all my friends who loved me for who I am – thank you. Power hungry people, I loved Michael Arrington for 8+ years starting when i implemented Eurekster search at the time on Techcrunch in 2006 and throughout the years i didn’t know he cheated on me multiple times, then tells people it was me immediately after he did it. It hurts when you love someone borderline and they can’t feel anything at all for you, and threaten to murder you if you told anyone about the physical abuse – all for keeping his reputation. The emotional abuse was equally bad. On a positive note, it can’t get any worse than this and I can’t get myself of this bed.

And here’s what she said in the comments on the Gawker article:

I’ve looked inward and outward long enough to finally say something and know exactly why I had to say it. His lies, abuse, threats and what he did to a friend of mine 5 months ago was unforgivable as well. He raped her, and she told me in person he called her to confirm he did it after the fact. I’ll leave it up to her if she ever wants to report it or say anything. This madness needs to stop, or he needs to start controlling his rage and rape ‘disorder.’

Arrington remained quiet for a period, while others rushed to throw in their judgments of his character, until finally, he put out a statement saying:

There have been some extremely serious and criminal allegations against me over the last week. All of the allegations are completely untrue, and I’ve hired a law firm to represent me in the legal actions against the offending parties.

I’ve also asked my attorneys to contact appropriate law enforcement agencies about these false allegations. Given the gravity of the claims, I think it’s important that the police be involved in this now.

The whole thing had largely been ignored by the media and blogs other than a select few, until Arrington’s statement, then everyone started covering it. Likewise when former TechCrunch CEO Heather Harde jumped to Arrington’s defense. She wrote:

During my five years at TechCrunch, there were no complaints or cases of sexual harassment or misconduct against Michael Arrington. If there had been any rumors of misconduct from staff or other third parties, I would have taken the matters seriously and investigated them. Many people, including Michael’s friends and girlfriends, sought me out as a confidante for disagreements or challenges they faced with Michael, so I would have been aware of rumored bad behavior.

You can read her full post here.

About a month ago, Arrington posted a detailed letter refuting the allegations. Here’s that letter:

And now this week, the lawsuit has been filed. In it, Arrington alleges that Allen felt “betrayed and slighted,” and aimed to “destroy his reputation and to deter third persons from associating with him.” The suit includes a demand for jury trial, and seeks $75,000 in damages.

Here’s the court document:

As you may recall, Arrington’s former girlfriend Jenn Allen recently alleged that he had been physically abusive, and accused him of rape. In a short response last week, Arrington called the allegations “completely untrue” and said that he would have a full response in a few days. It appears that he has made good on that promise.

“You have posted statements about Michael that are false and defamatory, and that have caused significant harm to his good name. It is my hope that you immediately will take corrective action, by retracting those statements. I have examined your posted statements, and compared them with provable facts. This comparison shows without any doubt whatsoever that, among others, the following of your statements about Michael are false,” says Arrington’s attorney Eric M. George in the letter.

The letter breaks down Allen’s accusations one-by-one, providing emails, photos, texts, and social media communications that refute her story. For instance:

(1) You stated that “he was physically abusive [on] March 5th [of] last year” (April 1, 2013, 2d posting, Gawker.) “[H]e did rape me, on March 5 last year, when he invited me over to make amends from a major catastrophe a couple months prior.” (April 1, 2013, 3d posting, Gawker.)

Your twice-repeated allegation of rape/physical abuse by Michael is not only false, but factually impossible. On March 5, 2012, Michael was in Washington and you were in California. Michael’s whereabouts are confirmed by travel records and credit card statements in my possession, and your whereabouts are proven by a photo of you at a San Francisco party at 1:05 a.m. on March 6, 2012. This photo was posted online but has been removed in the past several days. (The photo, together with screenshots of your Facebook page in March 2012 before and after it was deleted, are appended hereto as Attachment A.)

The letter calls for Allen to retract her accusations publicly by April 15th or face legal action. You can check it out in its entirety below:

Demand Letter to Jennifer Allen

For her part, it doesn’t appear that Allen is backing down from the allegations, as judged by her recent tweets:

Tweets by @JennAllen

“I simply do not believe any of the allegations to be true,” says Harde.

If you haven’t been following the new about Arrington, here’s a brief rundown:

Last week, Arrington’s former girlfriend Jenn Allen posted to Facebook, claiming that Arrington has physically abused her and threatened to kill her if she every went public with it. Gawker first spotted the post, and covered it. Allen then commented on the Gawker article, making additional allegations that Arrington was guilty of rape.

Later, a couple of “former friends” of Arrington’s also spoke out on the claims, stating that it fit a pattern and Arrington had physically abused another one of his former girlfriends. One accuser called it “the worst kept rumor in the valley for years.”

Today, Arrington posted a brief response, saying that “all of the allegations are completely untrue, and I’ve hired a law firm to represent me in the legal actions against the offending parties.”

Now, Harde has taken to Facebook to defend Arrington. Here’s her post in full:

As to recent allegations that have been leveled at my former business partner, Michael Arrington:

Michael recruited me to be his CEO. TechCrunch was a calling for him, not just a business venture. That he trusted me to grow it from his bedroom-based hobby to a leading media outlet speaks most authentically of his regard for women. In the five years that I worked with Michael, I can say he treated me as tough and true a business partner as one would hope to example for the field of gender studies. If anything, on more than one occasion I secretly wished that Michael trusted me less completely with tough calls for the business!

We operated TechCrunch out of Michael’s house for the first two years, so to say that I’ve seen the inner workings of Michael Arrington’s personal life is a gross understatement. As any startup, we worked long hours, and I overlapped significant blocks of time with Michael’s roommates, friends and girlfriends. I would have detected patterns of abusive physical behavior if they had been present.

During my five years at TechCrunch, there were no complaints or cases of sexual harassment or misconduct against Michael Arrington. If there had been any rumors of misconduct from staff or other third parties, I would have taken the matters seriously and investigated them. Many people, including Michael’s friends and girlfriends, sought me out as a confidante for disagreements or challenges they faced with Michael, so I would have been aware of rumored bad behavior.

I simply do not believe any of the allegations to be true.

“Former Friends” Jason Calacanis and Loren Feldman have been estranged from Michael Arrington longer than they ever were friends, and they are not reliable character witnesses on this matter. Jason should limit his bluffing to poker. Usurping a woman’s emotional breakdown for purposes of pursuing a personal agenda to disparage a former business partner is wrong.

I write in full support of Michael Arrington. He has done much to advance women in tech leadership, and I hope others who have similar feelings will share their direct experiences with the community. It’s important we set the record straight.

[Photo via Heather Harde, Facebook]

Last week, former girlfriend Jenn Allen made the claims on her Facebook page, alleging the Arrington physically and emotionally abused her and even threatened to kill her if she told anyone. She later left additional comment on a Gawker article, reiterating the allegations and also accusing Arrington of rape.

Later, one of Arrington’s former friends and tech entrepreneur Jason Calacanis came out and said that he’d heard of these sorts of stories for a while. Other people from Arrington’s life surfaced, one claiming that it was the “worst kept rumor in the valley for years,” and that the abuse extended to multiple women.

Now, Arrington has posted a brief response to the accusations. In it, he calls the allegations “completely untrue,” and says that he has instructed his lawyers to contact the proper authorities.

Here’s the full response:

There have been some extremely serious and criminal allegations against me over the last week. All of the allegations are completely untrue, and I’ve hired a law firm to represent me in the legal actions against the offending parties.

I know this isn’t, for now, much information. I will have a full and complete response to these allegations sometime later this week. My goal will be to direct as much sunlight as possible on the issues so that the absolute truth can be known and I can begin to put my life back together.

I’ve also asked my attorneys to contact appropriate law enforcement agencies about these false allegations. Given the gravity of the claims, I think it’s important that the police be involved in this now.

Jenn Allen, founder and CEO of RTist.com, claims in a recent post that Arrington was physically and emotionally abusive in a past relationship. She also claims that he threatened to murder her if she told anyone about the abuse.

You can read the entire post below:

Last post on someone i’m completely over. I’ve never been lonelier in my entire life. To all my friends who loved me for who I am – thank you. Power hungry people, I loved Michael Arrington for 8+ years starting when i implemented Eurekster search at the time on Techcrunch in 2006 and throughout the years i didn’t know he cheated on me multiple times, then tells people it was me immediately after he did it. It hurts when you love someone borderline and they can’t feel anything at all for you, and threaten to murder you if you told anyone about the physical abuse – all for keeping his reputation. The emotional abuse was equally bad. On a positive note, it can’t get any worse than this and I can’t get myself of this bed.

Gawker, who first spotted the post, was able to confirm that the two did in fact date at some point – specifically in 2006. Allen’s Facebook post indicates that the relationship lasted for “8+” years. There are plenty of photos of the two together back around 2006 – you can check them out on Flickr. So it doesn’t appear that the relationship is in question – but these are some pretty serious allegations for a public figure.

Obviously, this is a developing story.

UPDATE: Allen commented on the original Gawker post, making more allegations against Arrington, including rape.

[Image of Allen via Facebook]

“We are planning to invest in those properties, not sell” them, Mr. Armstrong said in an interview with Ad Age. He admitted that the company has spoken with outside entities about partnerships that would lead to increased investments in TechCrunch and Engadget, but that right now AOL is leaning toward “investing ourselves.”

Update 2: TechCrunch has put out its own article on the topic now. It equates to “We’re not for sale.”

Will the AOL/TechCrunch drama ever end? For now, it continues.

The latest in the saga is a report from Sarah Lacy of PandoDaily (formerly of TechCrunch), who says she’s hearing from two independent sources that AOL is looking to sell Engadget and TechCrunch for somewhere between $70 million and $100 million. She says that they could be sold as AOL Tech, possibly with other sites like TUAQ and Joystiq.

“AOL is hoping to make something off the drama of the past couple of years: $70 million would net the struggling Internet company about $10 million profit on what AOL originally paid for both TechCrunch and Engadget’s original parent Weblogs Inc,” Lacy writes. “According to one source, AOL management has been seriously considering the move since early this year. The news also sheds light on why Arianna Huffington was so relaxed about relinquishing responsibility for the division last month, according to reports.”

Huffington reportedly talked about wanting to focus more on Huffington Post at Business Insider’s recent conference. This came about a month after conflicting reports emerged about just how much power she would have going forward.

If AOL really is looking to sell the tech properties, one would have to imagine that TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington might be interested, though he’s not saying as much. Lacy quotes him directly:

“I don’t know anything. No one tells me anything. I am not in the least bit interested [in buying back TechCrunch]. I was Team Pando all the way until Sarah Lacy fired me. That does not change my position on TechCrunch.”

Arrington, who famously called Huffington a touchy psychopath, will appear at the upcoming TechCrunch event, Disrupt (with former TechCrunch writer MG Siegler). Given the drama, it should be interesting to see what kinds of episodes emerge from that.

“MG and I will be doing on stage interviews with famous tech people in our signature styles, and helping to run the Battlefield,” Arrington said in a recent post on TechCrunch itself, titled “I’m Back”.

Will that title have even more meaning that first thought?

Former Mashable editor Ben Parr chimed in on the discussion on Twitter:

This tweet from Siegler seems appropriate (though he was actually tweeting about a Lakers game):

Of course, it’s not over yet…

Part of the plan was to have TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington as well as fellow CrunchFund partner and current (sometimes) writer for TechCrunch MG Siegler jump (and stay) on as contributors – a plan that apparently went awry on Monday. According to a post on PandoDaily by Founder and CEO Sarah Lacy, Arrington and Siegler are out at the new site after shareholders voted to yank Arrington as a director.

As of Monday, April 9 the shareholders of PandoMedia voted to remove Michael Arrington as a director. Given the change in relationship we feel it’s inappropriate for CrunchFund’s partners Michael Arrington and MG Siegler to continue contributing to PandoDaily. We thank MG for his many stellar contributions to date and Michael for his support in the early days of the company.

The announcement was abbreviated and they disabled comments on the post. There hasn’t been anything more from PandoDaily’s end on the matter.

But Arrington and Siegler both posted about the move, and they seem to agree on a root cause: their participation in TechCrunch Disrupt.

Here’s what Arrington had to say on Uncrunched:

This wasn’t a complete surprise to me, the company notified me last week that they weren’t happy that I and MG Siegler (my partner at CrunchFund) were going to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt this coming May.

Part of the reason that I’m speaking at Disrupt is that I have a contractual commitment to do so as part of my break with them last year, which Sarah knew about before our involvement in Pando. But MG and I are also speaking there because we still love TechCrunch. And we both speak at many other conferences as well.

Siegler echoed this on his blog:

Lots of questions about the PandoDaily situation. To be completely honest, I’m a bit surprised by how this went down. I think Michael’s response is appropriate.

The problem seemed to be us participating in TechCrunch Disrupt (and I assume more Michael than myself since I’m still a TechCrunch contributor). But we both speak at a lot of conferences. And I view it as valuable that we speak at a wide range of conferences.

Both Arrington and Siegler also mention that they think PandoDaily has potential to succeed, even though neither will be a part of it. At this point, nobody seems to be shocked by any drama that comes out of this bunch:

It has been suggested that AOL will obviously make cuts to its Patch division, and also in other unmentioned areas. Patch is AOL’s “community-specific news and information platform dedicated to providing comprehensive and trusted local coverage for individual towns and communities.” Patch reportedly lost roughly $100 million in 2011.

AOL has been losing a lot of executives within the last while, though it is evident that this didn’t cut enough costs. With the Techcrunch snafu, which prompted the departure of Heather Harde, it has seemingly become a cool thing to quit AOL – The company has also lost Tim Dierks, Alex Gounares, Tim Castelli, Brad Garlinghouse and Kiersten Hollars.

When the news broke on TechCrunch, Founder Michael Arrington wrote “Who the hell is Eric Eldon?” in the comments. That was obviously a joke, as he later said that the editor position was “the perfect position for Eldon.”

Arrington, who was fired from TechCrunch back in September of 2011, doesn’t mince words in a blog post published today. Speaking on the topic of Schonfeld stepping down from his position, Arrington had some pretty harsh words for Huffington Post Media Group President Arianna Huffington.

Here’s what Arrington had to say on his Uncrunched blog:

Putting the why aside, one thing’s clear to me. Arianna Huffington seems to enjoy fucking with TechCrunch in her leisure time. She put all her weight behind Schonfeld when I left. But within a few weeks the rumors were that she was furious at him for the way the news broke about MG Siegler joining CrunchFund.

I doubt Erick even realized, but he was a marked man from that day on. Yes, something that petty can piss her off.

He goes on to explain how he feels about Huffington’s leadership:

…in the modern era [The TechCrunch staff] also have to watch their back, because they have a very touchy psychopath conducting a game of musical chairs to the death. In other words, she has the TechCrunch staff running around in circles, afraid they’ll be the next one out.

As the post closes, Arrington gives some advice to Eldon. He says:

Now, if things do go sideways, I do have some public advice for him. Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight with Arianna. She’s smart and she’s mean as hell and she tends to win her fights. I lost. Erick had no chance whatsoever. The poor guy woke up yesterday thinking that everything was peachy. He went to bed without a job.

As of now, Arianna Huffington hasn’t publicly responded to this post.

The TechCrunch editor title has now gone to Eric Eldon. Eldon and fellow TechCruncher Alexia Tsotsis wrote a joint post about the news. In that, Eldon writes:

When Erick and I talked about me joining TechCrunch last November, the circumstance today was obviously not on either of our minds. But things can change very quickly in the world of blogging, and Erick decided now is the best time for him to leave.

Erick is an extremely experienced journalist and editor, he has worked hard to make the best of a very tough situation in recent months, and he’s done a great job of assembling a new team of young veterans — Sarah Perez, Josh Constine, Anthony Ha, Ingrid Lunden, Colleen Taylor, Eric Eldon (yes, apologies for speaking in the third person), and another person we’ll be announcing later this week. Along with all of the other alumni, Erick deserves a lot of credit for what TechCrunch is today.

In the comments section, TechCrunch Founder Michael Arrington writes, “Who the hell is Eric Eldon?”

MG Siegler, another TechCrunch vet says, “I think he crashed a TechCrunch party once.”

Siegler is a little more serious in a post for PandoDaily:

The truth is that this is the perfect position for Eldon. From the Stanford Daily to Y Combinator to VentureBeat to Inside Network to now TechCrunch, he has pretty much all the aspects of Silicon Valley flowing through his veins. He has been a writer, an editor, and a two-time startup founder.

His new role will be his toughest challenge yet. He has to get TechCrunch back on track.

Here are some quotes from AOL’s press release:

“TechCrunch has always been a cutting edge site, leading the conversation and helping set the agenda. With these new additions joining a great team, TechCrunch is perfectly positioned to reach new heights,” said Arianna Huffington. “I especially want to thank Erick Schonfeld, who has been a valued member of TechCrunch since 2007, for his leadership over the last few months. During this time, he brought great additions to the TechCrunch team, including Eric Eldon, who will now be taking the helm at the site.”

Eldon: “TechCrunch humbly began as Michael Arrington’s blog in 2005, written out of his spare bedroom in Atherton. The site is now an institution that has both come of age with the modern tech world — and defined it. We are going to build on the best of what the site has been over the years: a platform for entrepreneurs, and a leading source of news and opinion about the most important topics in tech. And we’re going to do it with the strongest team of young veteran tech writers in the world.”

Tsotsis: “Beyond breaking news, being hip on products and fearless opinion, TechCrunch has always been about cultivating unique voices. By giving talented young writers a little bit of freedom and a huge platform, we’re going to build the next generation of tech news rock stars.”

In semi-related news, PandoDaily hired its own new copy editor. It’s not Schonfeld.