Posted on 12/17/2014 5:30:46 AM PST by TurboZamboni
With a win against the estate of late Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle behind him, former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura now has his sights on HarperCollins, the publisher of the bestselling memoir "American Sniper."
Ventura filed a lawsuit Monday against the New York publisher, alleging the publicity generated by the book with a "false and defamatory" segment "substantially increased sales of 'American Sniper,' thereby generating millions of dollars in revenues and profits for Harper Collins."
HarperCollins does not comment on pending litigation, a spokesperson said Tuesday.
A federal jury in St. Paul found in July that a segment of the book -- about an alleged bar fight in California between Kyle and "Scruff Face," later identified as Ventura -- was false and defamatory.
The 8-2 verdict, delivered in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, awarded Ventura more than $1.8 million from Kyle's estate for harm to his reputation and unjust enrichment. HarperCollins announced soon after that it would pull the section from the book.
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
"The standard that must be met to win a defamation case is near impossible to meet for public figures. They have to prove actual malice, and truth is an absolute defense. That is why these cases are rare. Even if someone is lying, proving actual malice is near impossible due to how high the bar is regarding what public figures must prove. In the Ventura case, the jury was instructed that they had to prove with clear and convincing evidence that Kyle either knew or believed what he wrote was untrue, or that he harbored serious doubts about its truth. The suit was brought long before he died. Ventura didn't sue a widow. She became a widow after the case had already being going on. There were hours of testimony of Kyle on tape. When Ventura's name was linked to the book, two things happened. The sale of the book, which was previously struggling, suddenly sky rocketed when Ventura was named as Scruff Face. The other thing that happened was that Ventura lost his show, his reputation was damaged meaning he couldn't get work, and he was publically being shamed. His ability to earn money was terrible underminded while Kyle's earnings skyrocketed. It was also determined that at least one other story in the book was also untrue. The high standards that must be proved were often mentioned in the media before the trial, but after actual malice was proven enough to meet this high standard, the media seemed to forget all about this fact after the case. Understanding well how Public Relations works, I don't believe it was Kyle's idea to do this. I believe that a Public Relations agent knowing that Ventura is disliked by the left and the right strongly urged Kyle to link Ventura to the book because of how easily it would draw attention to the book from all media outlooks while also causing universal alignment with Kyle and against Ventura, making sales sky rocket."
Jesus. What a loser.
No less than the Star Tribune ran this story yesterday, identifying Ventura as a “former Navy Seal.”
It proves the lie, told often enough, becomes fact.
...I believe that a Public Relations agent knowing that Ventura is disliked...
Thanks for posting this.
It would seem the same PR agent is probably responsible for the 'Ventura sued the widow' narrative we're seeing expressed here on this thread.
I hope there is a silver lining in that the book gets much more publicity and sales due to the increased attention due to the lawsuits. No publicity is bad publicity, especially in book sales.
I notice he has never offered to return the money.......
I repeat:
dear jesse,
it matters not what secret you have found,
it matters not what aliens are living on the ground,
it matters not that you may have been another Viet vet,
it matters not any other undisclosed issue yet,
what matters most in this writers view,
is, once again, shame on you!
you couldnt be a man, which the seals taught you to be,
you couldnt take it, when dished on you, nosirree,
you had to be the wuss, and go to court,
like that team did, in footballs sport.
your pride which you sold, so long ago,
on those stupid fake wrestling shows,
which made you the laughing stock of my nation,
with your weird clothes on a TV station.
you couldnt live with the disgrace of being punched in the face,
by a man who fought in a different time and place.
so you used the court to steal his widows mite,
and used them, again, because your name was not right.
YOURE the picture they show for a crazy Viet Vet,
YOURE the video they show of a politician not to vet,
YOURE the example of how to not suck it up,
YOURE the human who should just shut the (tr)uck up!
whenever someone says “it’s not about the money”, it usually is.
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