Source: Sean Pavone / Getty
A Black Drag Performer in Idaho was awarded more than $1 million on Friday after a jury found that he was defamed by a conservative blogger.
According to AP, the Kootenai County District Court jury awarded Eric Posey $926,000 in compensatory damages for defamation after blogger Summer Bushnell posted a doctored video of him performing with a blurred spot over his privates claiming he “fully exposed [his] genitals.”
The jury also awarded Posey an additional $250,000 in punitive damages, stating that Bushnell knew her allegations were untrue, therefore making them with reckless disregard for the truth.
“The judicial system did what needed to be done,” Posey told reporters after the verdict.
During the 2022 Pride in the Park celebration, Eric Posey, whose stage name is Mona Liza Million, performed wearing a long-sleeve leotard, black shorts and tights and did not remove any clothing, according to reports. White supremacists were also there to antagonize, as 31 members of the Patriot Front were arrested and charged with conspiracy to riot.
That same day, Bushnell posted a video of herself condemning the arrests as well as a video of 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. “No one said anything about it, and there’s video. I’m going to put up a blurred video to prove it.”
The next day, Bushnell published the edited video, which showed the alleged blurred sections and it immediately took off on social media, sparking national outrage and a police investigation. Bushnell also claimed Posey committed a felony and demanded he be arrested.
The unedited video would later reveal that Eric Posey never exposed himself during his performance and prosecutors declined to file charges.
During the defamation trial, attorneys for Bushnell tried to claim that it was her “honest belief” that Posey exposed himself, therefore, it wasn’t defamatory, but the jury disagreed.
“The jury’s verdict demonstrates a clear message to this community that you have to be truthful,” Wendy J. Olson, one of Posey’s attorneys said.
Posey said that he’s faced death threats and harassment after the video was posted, but revealed that his support system is the reason he’s able to hold his head up high.
“Imagine being in a dark hole where you have nobody and you felt the whole world turn their back on you,” he said. “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.”
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