Jesse Ventura’s $1.8-million defamation award denied in his ‘American Sniper’ book case

Ex-professional wrestler Jesse Ventura won’t be awarded the $1.8-million judgment a jury decided to give him in 2014 as the result of a defamation case against the estate of Chris Kyle, who had written disparagingly about a person resembling Ventura in his memoir “American Sniper.”

Famed for his pro wrestling career, Ventura moved on to politics; he served as governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003.

Ventura sued Kyle for defamation in 2012, claiming the U.S Navy SEAL sniper defamed him in a passage in his memoir “American Sniper,” which was later turned into a film. In the book, Kyle said he punched a man he referred to as “Scruff Face” in a San Diego-area bar after the man made insulting comments about the SEALs.

In interviews following the book’s release, Kyle confirmed that “Scruff Face” was Ventura, himself a Navy veteran.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that on Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit threw out the $1.8-million “American Sniper” judgment, saying that the $1.35 million Ventura was awarded for “unjust enrichment” did not comply with Minnesota state law.

The jury in the lower court also awarded Ventura $500,000 for defamation. The appeals court also threw out that judgment, but sent it back to the lower court for retrial.

Kyle was shot and killed in 2013 by a veteran with PTSD that he had taken to a shooting range. After his death, Ventura announced he would continue the lawsuit against Kyle’s estate. A jury ruled in Ventura’s favor in 2014; months later, Kyle’s widow, Taya Kyle, announced she would appeal the verdict.

Jesse Ventura sues ‘American Sniper’ publisher HarperCollins »

In Monday’s decision, the federal appeals court held that the part of the judgment Ventura was awarded for “unjust enrichment” was “not allowed by Minnesota law,” because Ventura did not have a “pre-existing contractual or quasi-contractual relationship with Kyle.”

In addition, the court ruled that the jury had been prejudiced by Ventura’s lawyer’s suggestions during the trial that any judgment against Kyle’s estate would be covered by an insurance policy held by Kyle’s publisher, HarperCollins.

Ventura declined to comment on the appeals court’s decision, as did HarperCollins, which Ventura also sued in 2014. That lawsuit is still pending.

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