Facts

Reeves Nelson, a former UCLA basketball player, filed a defamation lawsuit against Sports Illustrated and reporter George Dohrmann. Nelson also alleged false-light invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Nelson alleged that Defendants published defamatory falsehoods about him in the Sports Illustrated story, 'Special Report: Not the UCLA Way.'

Specifically, Nelson sued Defendants for recounting numerous acts of criminal assault, battery, stalking, harassment, and vandalism allegedly committed by Nelson in their article that never actually occurred.

Among other things, Plaintiff claimed Defendants falsely claimed that Nelson fought with several teammates, that he ruined his roommate's bed and clothing by urinating on it, and that he went out of his way to stomp on a teammate's chest while he lay on the ground. Nelson alleged that Defendants made up these claims about him to bolster their story of an out-of-control star athlete whose psychotic and violent behavior single-handedly brought down the entire school basketball program. Nelson attached to his Complaint 18 declarations from his former teammates, including but not limited to his 'victims' as portrayed in the article, establishing that the article's descriptions of him and his behavior were false.

Damages

Nelson sought $10 million in compensatory damages and another $10 million in punitive damages.

Result

The Court granted Defendants' Special Motion to Strike, holding that Nelson was a public figure because of his status as a "high-profile" basketball player, even though he was an unpaid amateur and no public controversy regarding his alleged criminal acts of violence and stalking existed prior to the publication of Defendants' article. Defendants admittedly presented no evidence to establish the truth of their published statements about Nelson in support of their Motion. Instead, Defendants claimed that they did not act with malice because they relied on unnamed confidential sources for their article. The Court held that Defendants' self-serving declarations were sufficient to grant Defendants' Motion and dismiss Plaintiff's suit. Nelson intends to appeal the Court's order.