WASHINGTON — A Georgia film studio founder who has vowed to put $4 million behind his run for Congress was accused in 2017 of lifting former Major League Baseball All-Star Jason Heyward’s signature from a trading card to lure investors in a land deal.
Republican Ryan Millsap, whose Blackhall Studios was used by Marvel for projects such as “Venom” and “Loki,” was slapped that year with a claim that he “fraudulently” induced an investment firm to sink $8.5 million into the purchase of a 52-acre plot outside Atlanta.
Heyward, who spent the first five seasons of his career with the Atlanta Braves, “never had any intention of investing” and his signature “was a forgery,” claimed Telos Capital LLC in its suit, which was settled in 2018.
According to a court filing obtained by The Post, a private investigator tracked down Heyward and his financial adviser, who confirmed that the document with the ballplayer’s signature “is fraudulent” and was “taken off of a baseball card.”
Millsap will face state Rep. Houston Gaines in the May 19 Republican primary to represent Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, located east of Atlanta.
Millsap and Gaines are battling plumber Jeff Baker for the GOP nomination to succeed Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), who gave up the seat to run for the US Senate.
President Trump has yet to issue an endorsement in the race.
Heyward didn’t respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Millsap previously became the focus of controversy after ProPublica reported in 2024 on a trove of racist texts he allegedly sent, which became public as part of an arbitration dispute with his former lawyer, John Da Grosa Smith, who sought $24 million for purported legal work.
“F—ing Black People,” Millsap texted his then-girlfriend, Christy Hockmeyer, in 2019 after she complained about a claim against her following a car accident, according to court documents.
“So the black girl wants $2500 to fix her car on a quote that was $1800,” she had allegedly told him.
In another exchange cited in court records, Hockmeyer whined about a doctor’s visit at which she had to deal with a “retarded” nurse.
“Not shocked,” Millsap allegedly responded. “Black or Asian?”
In yet another alleged exchange, Hockmeyer, also an investor in Millsap’s real estate firm, fumed that a “large smelly black man is seated next to me.”
“Yucko!!” the future congressional candidate replied, according to the court documents.
Millsap and Hockmeyer also allegedly exchanged antisemitic messages, with the latter suggesting the Blackhall boss make a certain hire by saying: “He’s even a Jew. That’s good for this role.”
“Teeny tiniest Jew,” allegedly replied Millsap, who is now married to a Jewish woman.
Smith’s team also accused Millsap in court records of frequently using phrases such as “greedy Israelite” and “the Jew crew,” and once complaining about being “Jew jitsued.”
An arbitrator found Smith in breach of contract and causing Millsap “reputational harm,” ordering the lawyer to pay $1.5 million in punitive damages and $2.2 million in attorneys’ fees.
At the time of the initial report, Millsap offered “sincere apologies to my dear friends, colleagues, and associates in both the black and Jewish communities for any and all pain my words have caused.”
“Ryan Millsap is running for Congress to destroy the left-wing Democrat communists and career politicians who are destroying this country,” a spokesman for the candidate said, “so it’s not surprising they are lying about whatever they can to slow him down.
“It’s a shame that the New York Post has taken up their cause by repeating fake news that was published in left-wing media, or from a disgraced lawyer that was found liable in a judgement in Mr. Millsap’s favor, or by those who are seeking to stop him from fighting the fight against the left.
“These claims are made up out of whole cloth. Full stop.
“Ryan Millsap is a warrior who has been doing battle against the leftist Antifa movement for years and wants to help President Donald Trump finish them to save this country.”
Blackhall Studios, founded by Millsap in 2017, was acquired by private equity firm Commonwealth Group for $120 million in April 2021 and rebranded as Shadowbox Studios the following year.
“Any one of these allegations would be deeply troubling. Taken together, they are disqualifying,” the Gaines campaign said in a statement. “This district deserves better. Voters want a conservative fighter who will deliver results and work with President Trump and Speaker Johnson.”
