GameStop poster boy 'Roaring Kitty' hit with lawsuit (update)

• Update 3:00 p.m. ET: In his released testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, Gill stresses he is an individual investor.
• "Before I go further, I want to be clear about what I am not. I am not a hedge fund. I do not have clients, and I do not provide personalized investment advice for fees or commissions. I am an individual investor. My investment in GameStop and my posts on social media were entirely my own."
• "I did not solicit anyone to buy or sell the stock for my own profit. I did not belong to any groups trying to create movements in the stock price. I never had a financial relationship with any hedge fund. I had no information about GameStop except what was public. I did not know any people inside the company, and I never spoke to any insider."
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• Keith Gill, known online as Roaring Kitty and active on Reddit's (REDDIT) WallStreetBets board, faces a potential class action lawsuit that accuses him of market manipulation and posing as an amateur investor.
• “In order to motivate amateur traders, Gill fashioned himself as a kind of Robin Hood and characterized securities professionals as villains,” the lawsuit said, according to Bloomberg. “Gill, however, is no amateur. For many years, he actively worked as a professional in the investment and financial industries.”
• Gill became one of the main faces of the Reddit movement that saw GameStop (NYSE:GME) shares rallying to $400 on short and gamma squeezes.
• The plaintiff who would represent investors sold $200K in GME calls when the stock was below $100/share.
• Gill did not respond to a Bloomberg request for comment.
• The House Financial Services Committee will hold its hearing on market volatility tomorrow, with Gill scheduled to appear, along with CEOs from Reddit, Robinhood (RBNHD), Citadel and Melvin Capital.
• Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has been laying low in a hotel ahead of the hearing after receiving death threats.