A jury has awarded more than $1.1 million to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, during a Pride event in June 2022.
The Kootenai County District Court jury unanimously found Friday that Summer Bushnell defamed Post Falls resident Eric Posey when she posted a doctored video of his performance with a blurred spot that she claimed covered his “fully exposed genitals,” the Coeur D’Alene Press reported.
In reality the unedited video showed no indecent exposure, and prosecutors declined to file charges.
“The judicial system did what needed to be done,” Posey said after the verdict.
“Jurors awarded Posey $926,000 in compensatory damages for defamation. Because Posey proved that Bushnell knew her allegations were false when she made them or that she made the accusations with reckless disregard for the truth, the jury awarded $250,000 in additional punitive damages.”
What?
The compensatory damages are to compensate for lost revenue and such that the defamation may have caused, while punitive damages are additionally to punish for the willful wrongdoing.