New York Times, Alabama and Kai Spears
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A Tuscaloosa jury returned a verdict in a civil trial pitting a former Alabama walk-on basketball player against The New York Times. Kai Spears was awarded damages of $9.25 million in the defamation trial Thursday evening, Tuscaloosa Patch was first to report.
Spears sued the Times in 2023, alleging libel and false light, an invasion of privacy that his lawyers said caused him “severe emotional distress, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life.” After a nine-day federal trial in Tuscaloosa, a jury sided with Spears and ordered the Times to pay $9.25 million in damages.