Posted on 08/05/2014 7:00:31 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura launched Tuesday a public relations campaign to explain why he filed the high-profile defamation suit he won last week.
In a wide-ranging interview on WCCO Radio, and in an online video on Ora.tv, Ventura repeatedly said the lawsuit was not about the money; it was about clearing his name.
“For me, it was always about the lie,” said Ventura, the former Navy SEAL and professional wrestler, who said he would have settled for an apology if the publishers of “American Sniper” admitted they fabricated a story about him.
“All they did was offer money,” he said. “I refused, because I wanted to get my name back.”
Chris Kyle, the author of the best-selling book, said he “punched out” Ventura for making offensive comments about Navy SEALs, an incident Ventura denies ever happened.
A jury last week awarded Ventura $1.8 million in damages for defamation and “unjust enrichment”.
An unapologetic Ventura said he had no second thoughts about suing Chris Kyle’s widow, Taya Kyle, after he was murdered.
He said she used her widow status for sympathy, calling it a legal tactic to make him look bad in court.
“(They thought) the upcoming court battle would look a whole lot better,” he said. “The widow? And the children? Look how I’ve been beaten up over that.”
Ventura said much of the $1.8 million in damages will go to his legal team, whose fees were in “the high hundreds of thousands of dollars”.
But none of it will go to charity or to Taya Kayle, whom he said “is making millions” off the book and an upcoming movie.
“Just because she’s a widow does not mean she can profit from defamation and slander. And that’s what she’s done,” he said.
Ventura also said that not keeping the money would go against what the jury wanted: to reward him for the financial damage he says he suffered because of the book.
“I would never counteract the jury like that,” he said. “To me, that would be like slapping the jury in the face.”
There's a video, but there is no way I'm going to watch it.
Jesse, you fool, it is impossible to slander you.
Nobody can possibly damage your character more than you have already.
Gee Jesse, as if you weren’t already dead to me, now you go throwing dirt over your own grave?
Not much of a man are you?
Karma, jesse, karma, you POS.
Chief of bullies. He lost... and didn’t win.... he didn’t get his name back, he lost it big time.
Jesse’s claim to fame: A cross dressing wrestler. Think he’s better off at that.
If Ventura’s alive in a year,I’ll be surprised.
Well, it’s only money. At least nobody’s going to jail.
Screw you Jesse, you sniveling puke.
Keep digging, $h*theel.
No, you maggot. You looked bad long before Kyle decked your sorry ass.
The jury should have figured out how many people bought the book because an unnamed guy got punched in it, then, sometime later, somebody connected dots and said it was Ventura. My guess is three people, tops.
I’m lovin’ reading replies on his twitter feed. ;)
Ventura is a disgusting sensationalist. But, this is why we have trials and juries. They had facts and they had testimonies we haven’t heard. Something in that process drove them to the decision they rendered. I don’t like this, or the way it went down. But I also would not like judges or juries rendering verdicts based on who they like the best.
So Jesse, you are the same buffoon that appears in the wrestling shows. Glad you cleared that up.
I just hope you dare to show your face at a SEAL event.
The last sentence caused my blood to boil.
“I would never counteract the jury like that,” he said. “To me, that would be like slapping the jury in the face.”
Liar.
Pillock.
I never did like you, you piece of shit.
He has to live with the fact that if he runs into any special forces people (regardless their branch of service), he will get the crap beat out of him. Live long an suffer, you POS.
May he choke on bitterness. What a straight up a-hole
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