Baltimore, MD — The internet’s self-proclaimed queen of “good weirdness” is in SERIOUS legal trouble! Backstage actress Ava Grace May, 21, is staring down a $30,000 defamation lawsuit after she allegedly went on an Instagram rant accusing YouTuber Levi Trumbull of stalking her—and honey, the receipts say otherwise! Court documents filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court paint a WILD picture of betrayal, broken promises, and social media revenge gone horribly wrong.
This tea starts brewing way back in August 2024 when May was just another aspiring actress scrolling through Backstage.com looking for her big break. Trumbull, a 26-year-old YouTuber with 118,000 subscribers, posted a casting call for an on-camera co-host. May jumped at the chance, sending him a cover letter that gushed: “Thank you so much for considering me! I would love to be a host for this project I think I’m a great fit.”
After phone interviews, Trumbull picked May for the gig and she was THRILLED! Her text response? “AHHHH THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! This is so exciting!” They scheduled a meeting at Starbucks in Frederick, Maryland, on August 21, 2024, to make it official.
But here’s where things get MESSY! According to court papers, Trumbull showed up with contracts and—get this—$100 CASH as a little “welcome to the team” gift to help with travel expenses. Sweet, right? WRONG! When May saw the actual paperwork, she completely freaked out! The lawsuit says she “became overcome with anxiety” and basically admitted she couldn’t understand the documents, asking for more time to review them.
No problem, right? Trumbull let her take everything home—all seven custom contracts AND the Benjamin—with May promising “I’m going to sign them no matter what” and “you’ll get them back.” Spoiler alert: She ghosted him COMPLETELY! Never signed anything, never returned the documents, never gave back the money. Just POOF—disappeared like a Snapchat message!
Trumbull tried being nice about it. He sent formal requests in September 2024 asking for his stuff back, even offering to let her drop everything at the Sheriff’s Office. May’s response? CRICKETS!
So, Trumbull did what any reasonable person would do—he moved on with his life after a small claims lawsuit and hired another talent. The new co-host actually showed up, signed the papers, and has appeared in FOURTEEN videos for his channel. Meanwhile, May was out there doing… whatever it is Ava Grace May does… we are still not sure…
Fast forward to September 2025, and suddenly May drops a song called “Astral Stalking” on Spotify! The lyrics are PEAK passive-aggressive energy, talking about someone watching her “through your astral eyes” and how she needs “to put salt around my house” because “you’re stalking me.” Girl was really out here singing about mystical stalking like she’s in some indie horror movie!
Trumbull saw the writing on the wall (or the salt circle, whatever) and sent May an email on September 13, 2025, titled—wait for it—”The High Road.” He literally tried to be the bigger person, writing: “I am reaching out in attempt to take the high road before I respond to some of your recent actions.” He gave her 48 HOURS to work things out like adults.
May’s response? You already know—MORE CRICKETS! Not a single word!
So on September 15, 2025, Trumbull posted a YouTube video addressing the whole situation. He called out May’s content as “weird” and “cringy”—but here’s the KICKER: Those are literally the EXACT words May uses to describe HERSELF! Her Spotify says she spreads “good weirdness around the world,” her TikTok is labeled “my tweaking account,” and even her SISTER publicly calls her content “Weird Cringy!” Trumbull wasn’t making stuff up—he was quoting HER OWN BRANDING!
But May was NOT having it! That same night at 9:53 PM, she took to Instagram and posted to her 1,500 followers: “THIS GUY HAS BEEN STALKING ME” and “And then harassed me and my family for months.” She also claimed Trumbull was “10 years older than me”—except he’s only FIVE years older! Sis couldn’t even get basic math right when trying to talk about his age!
Now here’s where it gets ABSOLUTELY BONKERS! Less than 12 hours later, on the morning of September 16, May posted MORE Instagram stories saying Trumbull’s video “did not hurt” her and was “f*cking hilariously bad” and “gives me recognition.” The lawsuit literally says these admissions are “devastating to any defense.” Like GIRL—pick a lane! Are you traumatized or are you laughing? You can’t be both!
Trumbull wasn’t playing games. On September 16, he sent May a cease-and-desist letter citing Maryland defamation law and explaining why falsely accusing someone of CRIMINAL STALKING is a BIG DEAL. Under Maryland law, stalking is a crime punishable by up to FIVE YEARS in prison! This wasn’t just shade—it was a serious accusation. He gave her until September 25 to take it back. May’s response? Once again—NOTHING!
But THEN—plot twist!—May filed for a PEACE ORDER against Trumbull that same day! The legal system was like “okay, prove it” and scheduled hearings. But get this: May failed to properly serve Trumbull FOUR SEPARATE TIMES! After months of this nonsense, she just gave up and withdrew the whole thing on October 8. The court was so unimpressed they sealed the records when Trumbull asked, basically saying the petition was bogus!
Trumbull gave May ONE LAST CHANCE on November 19, sending her a massive demand letter (we’re talking PAGES!) giving her until December 5 to just apologize and make it right. He even offered to drop everything if she’d simply post a retraction! May’s response? You guessed it—SILENCE!
So on December 8, 2025, Trumbull SUED! He filed a defamation complaint in Baltimore County Circuit Court asking for at least $30,000 in damages, plus a court order forcing May to publicly apologize on Instagram, PLUS a permanent ban on her making any more false statements about him!
A process server personally delivered the lawsuit to May at her home in Lutherville Timonium on December 10, literally handing her the papers while she made an annoyed “ughhh” sound and got in a car.
The lawsuit details how May’s posts caused Trumbull to receive THREATS from her followers! People were calling him a “stalker,” even claiming he tried to harm May!
Court records show May STILL hasn’t responded to the lawsuit. Under Maryland law, she had 30 days to file a pleading. That deadline passed on January 9, 2026. As of January 20, a default order has been entered against her, meaning she basically lost by not showing up!
Now May’s facing a damages hearing where Trumbull will ask a judge to award him that $30K minimum, force her to post a public apology, and ban her from ever making false accusations again. Plus interest! Plus court costs!
The moral of this story? Don’t make false criminal accusations on Instagram, ESPECIALLY when you contradict yourself 12 hours later! And definitely don’t ghost a lawsuit and hope it goes away—because spoiler alert: IT WON’T! 💅⚖️
