The OP posted as though this was an ongoing issue with a lot of rhetoric.
The Washington Post had fewer than a half dozen stories on the topic, several before the verdict was reached.
Fox had a similar number of stories, but most of them after the verdict, often using blaring headlines condemning Ventura.
It seems that my shot at Fox was accurate as the WP stories did not go out of their way to sensationalize the issue. I mocked Fox for their typically tabloid approach to “reporting,” not based on any particular partisan leaning. (Of course, with you, it is always partisan bickering. )
In addition to being a Truther, he also believes in a conspiracy to assassinate JFK.
He’s made a lot of money off a couple of his lawsuits (not the one against the TSA), so no wonder he does it.
True story: When Jesse ran for governor, my wife was teaching remedial college math, and they got to talking about the election. Every single one of those who announced that they supported Jesse was earning a D or F in the course at the time.
This seems to be the result of (as usual) inaccurate media reporting on a legal matter. Ventura wasn’t suing Kyle’s widow. He was suing Kyle, and subsequently his estate. It’s hardly Ventura’s fault that a military widow happened to be the primary beneficiary of the estate. Moreover, how is the widow somehow more deserving of a pot of money than Kyle himself, a decorated war veteran? If it was okay to sue Kyle - and clearly it was - then it was okay to sue his estate.
He is an entertainer, and it’s reasonable to conclude his ability to earn money as an entertainer has been diminished by the false accusation. In addition there were no marks against him as a Navy Seal and this particular smear has harmed his reputation among his fellow Seals and other military personnel. You may not like him or his form of entertainment but he committed no crimes and didn’t deserve to be the subject of this lie.
According to the two polls to which I linked, his reputation was not injured by the allegation. And he seems to be able to get roles on loony conspiracy shows without much problem.
AFAICT suing a military widow did a lot more to harm his rep with SEALs and other military than Kyle did.
IIRC, Ventura was never actually a “Navy SEAL” himself. He was a member of some other special ops group that was later folded into or replaced by the SEALs after he retired.
And again, it’s inaccurate at best to say he “sued a military widow”.
I don’t know how the damage to his reputation was demonstrated in court, but I doubt they used those polls.
That’s irrelevant though, it was a question of the damage to his reputation in a legal sense as a result of the lie, and unaffected by the outcome of the lawsuit.
Kyle falsely claimed that Ventura had advocated the deaths of Navy Seals, a very serious matter for a former Navy Seal (or whatever he was exactly) and Kyle did it for monetary gain. Jesse was entitled to ask for the ill gotten gains as compensation, and he received it. Kyle’s death made it impossible to ever fully clear Ventura’s name through a retraction.
I’m not saying this was the best course of action for Ventura to take. He could have taken his case to the media instead of the courts. He could also have asked the estate to contribute money to a fund for injured veterans instead of defending a lawsuit. He can still do the same thing. If he told the story as a mistake by Kyle and directed any money associated with that mistake to charitable causes he could have done more to regain his reputation.
I thought it was based at least in part on how much profit the book made - see posts 9-11.
He could do a lot of things more classy than what he did or is doing, but we are talking about a professional wrestler and kookball here.
I live in Minnesota. I did not vote for him, in case that isn’t obvious.
I wish to heaven that the Independent, Reform parties didn’t attract these kinds of nutbags. The party founder drops out of the 92 race because he thinks the Republicans are bugging his daughter’s wedding and now Jesse is selling conspiracy theories.
Everything I’ve read about the incident say that the only evidence submitted by anyone who actually said “Chris Kyle hit Jesse Ventura for saying SEALs deserve to die” was Chris Kyle, in a videotaped deposition taken before his death. So whatever all the other witnesses who testified said, everything I’ve read about it says no one openly testified that the Ventura story happened other than Kyle.
If it happened I question how it could have happened in a crowded bar and no one but Chris Kyle saw it. If it happened I question how Jesse Ventura has no documented injuries from it, especially considering there were snapshots of him all throughout the day as he was posing for pictures with people.
If it happened I question why, all the SEALs who seem to support Chris Kyle and dislike Ventura, none of them were able to testify they saw it happen–even if just to lie for his widow’s sake. The fact that that didn’t happen make me feel pretty firmly it didn’t happen.
Most of my personal familiarity with Jesse Ventura comes from his time as a professional wrestling commentator and manager (and his roles in Predator and Running Man.) I don’t have a lot of intrinsic respect for Ventura, but if he didn’t say that he wanted American soldiers killed or that they deserved to be killed then I think it’s pretty inappropriate to lie about him saying that in a book. I don’t think a former pro wrestler hosting dumb TV shows means it’s acceptable to say he openly desired dead American soldiers.
My WAG is Chris Kyle disliked Jesse’s open leftist screeds all the time and after he fabricated his story to make his book more entertaining he probably decided speaking to the media and slurring Jesse was a good publicity move.
I think Kyle was a legit war hero but also not a great man, anyone that shamelessly profits off of their service that way isn’t someone I can respect as an individual even if I can respect his having been there and his performance on the battlefield.
None of the things you cite here would suggest to me he believe the SEALs “deserved to lose a few guys”. There’s a mighty big jump you’re making there.
Jesse has witnesses that say that he didn’t say those things, nor was there an altercation with Kyle. As I recall, those defending Kyle weren’t very credible. I’m sure the defense presented their testimony in court.
For you and Shodan, this is what wikipedia says:
So the $1.345 million dollars was unjust enrichment, only $500,000 was defamation damages. Peoples opinions of his reputation aren’t really important here, he didn’t have a reputation based on facts for making the statement Kyle claims or being involved in any such confrontation. Kyle made those things up according to the court and the jury by preponderance of the evidence. Since Kyle’s statements were in fact part of the promotion of his book it’s reasonable to assume he was unjustly enriched.
None of the things you cite about him indicate the sentiments Kyle claimed, and again, the preponderance of evidence indicates no such confrontation ever occurred.
In a civil defamation trial where the plaintiff is a public figure, there must be a showing of “actual malice” (a term of art which has almost nothing to do with ill will). This is an extremely high bar.
Off the top of my head, the only other public figure who has successfully sued for defamation in the US is Steve Wynn, who was accused of threatening to kill Joe Francis (the Girls Gone Wild guy). The only reason Wynn won was that Francis went on Good Morning America and repeated his claim during the trial.
She says she did. The Enquirer didn’t directly deny it but said they never paid her any money.
However,wikipedia has an article on that very subject. It looks like in the end the money awarded to Burnett was seriously reduced. Perhaps they never did pay that amount either, or I heard them deny the payment before the appeals were completed.
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