Storyline
New York Times Brandon Miller defamation lawsuit
One page that accretes the verified record as the story develops. Every fact keeps its date and its sources.
1 DAYS
13 FACTS
2 EVENTS
2 SOURCES
FIRST ENTRY AUG 21
AUG 21 · Day 1
Former Alabama Basketball Player Wins $9.25M Defamation Verdict Against New York Times
The person in the car during the shooting was later revealed to be a team manager rather than Spears.
Kai Spears sued the New York Times in 2023 after it published a report claiming he was a passenger in a car involved in the shooting.
The original New York Times article was published in March 2023.
“Instead, the Times defended its inaccurate article and continued to distort facts rather than acknowledge the harm they caused, acting as if its power made it untouchable. The Alabama jury made it clear to the New York Times that they were wrong to do what they did.”
CHRISTIAN SPEARS
verbatim
AUG 21 · Day 1
New York Times loses defamation suit, ordered to pay $9.25M to former Alabama basketball player
The New York Times stated that it had not lost a domestic defamation lawsuit over an article in over 50 years prior to this verdict.
The March 2023 report was authored by New York Times sportswriter Billy Witz.
The New York Times published an editor's note to the report in June 2023 after Spears filed a defamation lawsuit.
“Based on information from a person familiar with the case, the article erroneously identified that person as Kai Spears, a freshman basketball player. After the article was initially published, Alabama’s athletic director and Spears’s father denied that Spears was present. The Times included those responses and reviewed its reporting, but did not conclude that any other change to the article was warranted at that time.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
verbatim