Another pro-wrestler had his day in court this week, but unlike Hulk Hogan, whose defamation lawsuit literally bankrupted Gawker Media, former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura’s defamation lawsuit against ‘American Sniper’ hero Chris Kyle was tossed out.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a $500,000 award Ventura had received against the late Kyle’s estate for defamation and a $1.3 million award for “unjust enrichment.” According to the Court, “unjust enrichment” does not exist under Minnesota law, barring Ventura from recovering on that count. The defamation claim was sent back to the District Court for a new trial.
Like Hogan’s suit against Gawker (over a sex tape that the site published featuring the wrestler and another woman who wasn’t his wife), this case has been controversial from the beginning. Kyle was a Navy SEAL, and reportedly one of the best. His book, American Sniper, was made into the Bradley Cooper movie of the same name. In the memoir, Kyle recalled a 2006 incident in a California bar where he confronted and “punched out” Ventura, also a former Navy SEAL, for comments Ventura was making disparaging American servicemen.
Ventura claimed the incident never happened, that Kyle had ruined his reputation with his fellow SEALs and among members of the military, and that Kyle had defamed and harmed him in the process. The court didn’t opine on the merits of Ventura’s case, but chose instead to send the case back to trial, noting that Ventura’s lawyers had made prejudicial statements during the first trial that could have contributed to such a high jury award.
Unlike Hogan, however, Ventura did not claim Kyle invaded his privacy. Instead he claimed that Kyle had tried to make himself famous by dropping Ventura’s name.
Hogan was able to win on his second count (the court found that Gawker Media exposed much more about Hogan’s life than was protected by the public interest). But in Ventura’s case, the court said simply that, if Ventura were allowed to recover damages, absent some sort of contract with Kyle, anyone who had ever dropped a celebrity’s name would be subject to litigation. (And Ventura could use the money: while Hogan is worth an estimated $25 million, Ventura is worth $6 million.)
Perhaps Hogan can give his fellow pro-wrestler a few litigation tips for next time.