A drag queen has won a court victory after a judge in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, awarded over $1.1 million in damages in a defamation case he brought against a conservative blogger.
The jury in Kootenai County District Court found conservative blogger Summer Bushnell guilty of defamation in a unanimous decision.
Drag queen Eric Posey was granted $926,000 in compensatory damages for alleged defamation and an extra $250,000 in punitive damages.
The damages came after the jury found Bushnell made claims with “reckless disregard” for truth, knowing her statements were untrue.
The case stems from a video Bushnell posted in 2022 showing a drag show in which Posey performed as Mona Liza Million.
The show made headlines after 31 members of the militant group Patriotic Front were arrested after being found armed with riot gear, the AP reported.
However, Bushnell shared a doctored video of herself discussing the arrests and edited footage from Posey’s performance.
“Why did no one arrest the man in a dress who flashed his genitalia to minors and people in the crowd?” she said in the clip, according to the Press.
“No one said anything about it and there’s video. I’m going to put up a blurred video to prove it,” the blogger said, claiming the clip showed “fully exposed genitals.”
The video sparked a police investigation.
City prosecutors declined to file charges after reviewing the unedited footage, determining that no indecent exposure was caught on camera.
Bosey said Bushnell’s false claims caused significant distress.
The drag queen repeatedly received death threats and encountered harassment.
“Imagine being in a dark hole where you have nobody and you felt the whole world turn their back on you,” he said in court Thursday, according to the Press.
“But somehow, you were surrounded by warriors, true people of Idaho — not transplants, true people of this soil. I am fortunate to say I have people like that around me, people that lifted me up,” Posey said.
Bushnell’s attorney, Colton Boyles, said the defendant’s comments were “close to the line” but did not meet the threshold for defamation.
While the client testified that she did not really see the “fully exposed genitals,” Boyles said Bushnell’s “honest belief” was that Posey had exposed himself.
Jurors met with the drag queen at the end of the trial and hugged him.
BREAKING: A jury has awarded more than $1.1 million in damages to the drag performer who sued a blogger for defamation.https://t.co/FzjFetBVCe
— Kaye Thornbrugh (@KayeThornbrugh) May 24, 2024
“I’m so sorry you went through this,” one juror told Posey.
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