http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_20039344Ventura sues over author's claim that he "laid him out"By Tad Vezner
tvezner@pioneerpress.com
Posted: 02/24/2012 12:01:00 AM CST
Updated: 02/24/2012 11:00:03 PM CST
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 04: Former governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura promotes his new book "63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read" at Borders Penn Plaza on April 4, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Joe Corrigan/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jesse Ventura (Joe Corrigan)
Jesse Ventura is suing a retired Navy SEAL who claimed that he "laid out" the former Minnesota governor with a single punch after Ventura told him "we deserve to lose a few guys" in the Iraq War.
Ventura sued Chris Kyle - author of the recently released "American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History" - for defamation, misappropriation of name and likeness, and unjust enrichment Thursday in Hennepin County District Court.
Ventura said the confrontation and conversation never happened, and he called the allegations "a vicious, deliberate and calculated assault" on his honor.
Kyle referred to the alleged altercation in his book, but did not refer to Ventura by name - instead saying he fought with a "celebrity" he called "Scruff Face." But Kyle later identified "Scruff Face" as Ventura while on a media tour promoting his book.
In a legal response Friday to Ventura's suit, Kyle stood by his story.
In Kyle's book, published last month by HarperCollins, Kyle describes a 2006 incident at a Coronado, Calif., bar.
Under a section captioned "Punching Out Scruff Face," Kyle said a group of SEALs had gathered to mourn two members of the elite Navy commando unit who had recently died in Iraq.
"Among them was a celebrity I'll call Scruff Face," Kyle wrote, adding that "most people seem to believe he was a SEAL." He went on to say "Scruff Face" bad-mouthed President George W. Bush and America, and started "running his mouth
about the war."
Kyle wrote that he asked "Scruff Face" to "keep it down" and received the reply: "You deserve to lose a few." Kyle said the man then took a swing at him, at which point, "I laid him out."
"Tables flew. Stuff happened. Scruff Face ended up on the floor," Kyle added.
Kyle later went on the "Opie & Anthony" radio show and Fox News' "O'Reilly Factor" and said "Scruff Face" was Ventura, reiterating the claim that Ventura had told him, "We deserve to lose a few guys."
Ventura added in his complaint that on the Fox News show "The Five," "the show's five hosts all agreed, among themselves, that Kyle was telling the truth."
Ventura claimed in his suit that the altercation never occurred; that Kyle fabricated the entire conversation; and that "by his own admission, Kyle has gained more notoriety and publicity for the false, defamatory and malicious statements he has made about Governor Ventura than he has for all of the military exploits he writes about in 'American Sniper.'â "
He called Kyle's claim "a vicious, deliberate and calculated assault"...to cause the military community and Americans "to have contempt, scorn, disgust and hatred for him."
Ventura added that Fox TV and HarperCollins are both owned by News Corp., "and it is in their and Kyle's joint economic interests to generate publicity for 'American Sniper.'â "
Kyle's attorney, John Borger of Minneapolis, filed a response Friday stating that Kyle never made anything up, though he acknowledged that Ventura served as a SEAL.
Some have challenged Ventura's assertion that he was a SEAL during the Vietnam War era. He technically was a member of an Underwater Demolition Team, or a "Frog." The divided teams were later merged, meaning everyone became a SEAL in the Navy's eyes.
Kyle stated that all proceeds from his book would go to the families of the two SEALs who died in the Iraq war, Marc Lee and Ryan Job.
The response also questioned whether Ventura was a citizen, claiming that in November, Minnesota's governor from 1999 to 2003 publicly said he would be applying for Mexican citizenship.
Ventura said at the time that he would apply for dual citizenship, after his lawsuit against the U.S. Transportation Security Administration was dismissed. Ventura, who is the host of "Conspiracy Theory" on truTV, had sought to challenge the use of full-body scans and pat-downs at airport checkpoints.
Kyle's response also sought to move the case to U.S. District Court in St. Paul.
Tad Vezner can be reached at 651-228-5461.
