A University of Alabama basketball player has won a defamation suit against the New York Times.
New York Times loses defamation suit, ordered to pay $9.25M to former Alabama basketball player https://t.co/qqRps9TsWc pic.twitter.com/GGOYw8K351
— New York Post (@nypost) August 21, 2026
The NYT falsely identified him as being a passenger in a vehicle involved in a crime.
The New York Times was defeated in a defamation lawsuit Thursday brought by a former college basketball player and ordered to pay millions in damages.
An Alabama jury ruled the Times defamed Kai Spears, then an 18-year-old freshman walk-on basketball player for the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide, who was swept up in a 2023 report linking him to a fatal shooting.
After a nine-day trial, the eight-person jury determined that Spears was owed $9.25 million in damages.
Spears was mentioned in the March 2023 report authored by New York Times sportswriter Billy Witz.
Spears was falsely identified as being a passenger in the car at the site of a January 2023 shooting that resulted in the death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris.
The Times issued a lengthy editor’s note to the report in June 2023, but only after Spears filed the defamation lawsuit at the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
It doesn't happen often, but sometimes the good guys win.
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Good. The NYT said "Hey, we stand by our reporting" and refused to retract the story even after it was proven false. This is malice, not an honest mistake.
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) August 21, 2026
The media has a track record of malicious disregard for the truth (see also Duke lacrosse and UVA fraternity et al). The… https://t.co/KBhzZ3ikku
They had an 'anonymous' source insisting this young man was involved, and they refused to entertain any new evidence.
Will they ever learn!! https://t.co/1ncOHJEYoH
— Tina (@tina_spitfire) August 21, 2026
NYT reporting standards have sunk to a new low: “relied on one anonymous source” https://t.co/ED4r6dzSvc
— Jean (@queens_parents) August 21, 2026
And based on that one source, tried to ruin a kid's life.
FAFO New York Times. NYT is about to go broke with all the lawsuits piling up 🤣🤣 https://t.co/pgC8gfnMMd
— Sara TFTB1 (@SaraTftb1) August 21, 2026
The corrupt corporate media just took a massive loss. For over fifty years, they ruined lives with fake anonymous sources and got away with it. Now an Alabama jury finally made them pay for trying to destroy an innocent kid. Accountability is coming for the fake news machine! https://t.co/TSLzfXbk7l
— Matthew Newgarden (@a_newgarden) August 21, 2026
Perhaps, they'll start having some journalistic standards.
“We’re disappointed the jury found The Times liable for an honest mistake.” – New York Times spokesperson
— Diana Allocco (@dianamee) August 21, 2026
Winner of today’s most hilarious sentence in the English language. https://t.co/MlnRT4Hifv
A few suggestions: Stop reporting based on ONE anonymous source. Secondly, when presented with other evidence, examine it and if you're wrong, apologize right away.
Also, put that apology on the front page where the mistake first happened.