New York Times loses defamation suit, ordered to pay $9.25M to former Alabama basketball player
An Alabama jury awarded Kai Spears $9.25 million in damages after finding The New York Times defamed the former University of Alabama basketball player.
TL;DR
- The New York Times lost a defamation lawsuit brought by former college basketball player Kai Spears.
- An Alabama jury awarded Spears $9.25 million in damages.
- The lawsuit stemmed from a March 2023 report that falsely identified Spears as a passenger in a car at the scene of a fatal shooting.
- The Times issued an editor's note in June 2023 acknowledging the misidentification and stating the person present was Cooper Lee, a student manager.
- The newspaper relied on an anonymous source for the initial reporting, and the sportswriter conceded the story contained a mistake.