"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."
...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.