Jesse Ventura won $1.8 million from his defamation lawsuit on Tuesday against an author who wrote about the former Minnesota governor in his book.
A former SEAL, Chris Kyle, wrote a book called American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, The New York Times reports, which contained a section that spoke negatively of a run-in with Ventura.
In the book a celebrity, who is only referred to as "Scruff Face," though Kyle later revealed who it was, made disparaging comments towards members of the military and said the SEALS could stand "to lose a few" members.
Ventura, who was part of a Navy underwater demolition team, sued Kyle saying that the passages were false and hurt him both with those in the military and financially. He said after the book's release his yearly gross income combined with his wife went from $3 million to under $200,000 by 2012. Speaking opportunities also dried up.
It took the jury six days of deliberation before coming to a decision, which wasn't unanimous, but both sides agreed to it. The jury awarded Ventura $500,000 for defamation and another $1.3 million for Kyle profiting off the false claims.
According to The Associated Press, Ventura's lawyer had suggested that since more than 1 million people purchased the book and Kyle and his estate made more than $6 million, a respectably sum would be between $5 million and $15 million.
Kyle was killed in a shooting at a Texas gun range in 2013, but Ventura opted to continue with the lawsuit since he never received an apology, which is all the former governor said he wanted.
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