A jury in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, has awarded a drag queen over $1.1 billion in damages in a defamation case he brought against a conservative blogger.
The jury in Kootenai County District Court found blogger Summer Bushnell guilty of defamation in a unanimous decision, the Coeur D’Alene Press reported Friday.
The jurors granted drag queen Eric Posey of Post Falls $926,000 in compensatory damages for alleged defamation and an extra $250,000 in punitive damages after finding Bushnell made claims with “reckless disregard” for truth, knowing that her statements were not true, the newspaper reported.
The defamation case is related to a video Bushnell posted of a June 11, 2022, drag show in Coeur d’Alene where Posey was performing 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 near the event, The Associated Press reported.
Bushnell shared a doctored video of herself talking about the arrests and included 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."
Bushnell’s video sparked a police investigation.
However, upon reviewing unedited footage, city prosecutors declined to file charges, determining that contrary to Bushnell’s claims, no indecent exposure was caught on camera.
Bosey said Bushnell’s false claims caused him significant distress, according to the Press.
The drag performer claimed to have 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, told jurors the defendant’s comments were “close to the line” but did not meet the threshold for defamation.
Although his 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 to shake hands with him and hug him, The Associated Press reported.
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.
Bushnell manages the blog The Bushnell Report, according to The New York Times. Its website says it offers "North Idaho News from a Liberty and Freedom Viewpoint."
