Jesse Ventura’s $1.8 Million Defamation Award For ‘American Sniper’ Could Be Thrown Out

Jesse Ventura might not get the $1.8 million that was awarded to him in his defamation lawsuit regarding the late Chris Kyle’s book, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History.

Jesse Ventura Vs American Sniper

Attorneys for Taya Kyle, Chris Kyle’s widow, asked a federal appeals court to throw out Ventura’s award Tuesday, reported CBS. The lawyers hope to convince the judge to declare a mistrial and order a new trial.

Ventura remains convinced that the $1.8 million award is his due, as he maintains that Kyle had fabricated an altercation with him in his best-seller. According to Ventura, the publicity that came with the anecdote about him – a former WWF fighter and Minnesota mayor – helped propel the book towards it massive success.

“Can they fabricate and win with something that never happened? I certainly hope not,” Ventura said Tuesday after the arguments, adding, “I was the booster rocket that propelled this book to number one.”

Ventura also pointed out that Taya Kyle will not be paying a cent of his award, which will actually be paid by an insurance company.

Back in July of 2014, Ventura’s case against Kyle ended in a split 8 to 2 verdict in which the jurors awarded him $500,000 for defamation and an additional $1.3 million for the “author’s unjust enrichment,” according to The New York Times.

Throughout the trial, Ventura argued that Kyle’s book contained an untrue and damaging story about him. In the book, Kyle writes about a man he dubbed “Scruff Face,” who disparaged Navy Seals, and consequently received a punch to the face from Kyle that knocked the former wrestler to the ground.

Ventura first filed his defamation suit in 2012. However, Kyle was killed in February 2013 along with a friend at a gun range by an Iraq War veteran they were trying to help deal with crippling PTSD. As a result of Kyle’s death, his surviving wife Taya Kyle became the defendant of his estate.