An Alabama jury awarded $9.25 million in damages on Thursday to a former Alabama college basketball player who sued The New York Times two years ago after it defamed him in an article.
The lawsuit from former University of Alabama men’s basketball team player Kai Spears stemmed from a bogus report that the Times filed after the 2023 murder of a Birmingham mother named Jamea Harris.
Citing an anonymous person familiar with the investigation, Times reporter Billy Witz wrote that Spears had been a passenger in a car involved in the shooting, according to AL.com. That turned out to be false.
The only thing true about the story was that Harris’ murder did involve a University of Alabama player — just not Spears:
23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris life ended tragically early Sunday morning following a shooting near The Strip in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Harris’ death has been on hard on her entire family. Former @AlabamaMBB player Darius Miles and another man face capital murder charges. pic.twitter.com/sJsENt18BU
— Juan Hustle (@JuanHustle) January 16, 2023
After the story’s publication in March of 2023, the University of Alabama’s own athletic department came to Spears’ defense, according to the university’s student paper, The Crimson White.
“Your story is inaccurate,” UA Athletics wrote in a statement to the Times. “Based on the information we have, there were no current student-athletes present at the scene other than Brandon Miller and Jaden Bradley, who are both fully cooperating witnesses. From the outset, UA Athletics has fully cooperated with law enforcement and supported their investigation.”
Spears, meanwhile, issued a social media statement also refuting the story.
“I have one thing to say – the report in the New York Times was 100% inaccurate and the writer had complete disregard for the truth,” he wrote on Instagram. “I am trying to process and cope with these false statements that somehow have been published and then seen by so many.”
“So thankful to Alabama Athletics for refuting it on my behalf. More than anything … I remain completely heartbroken by the tragic death that occurred that night,” he added.
His father also condemned the Times.
“I am just incredibly disappointed in the irresponsible and demonstrably false reporting by the New York Times,” his father said. “We are exploring all legal options at this time. I will have no further comment, instead deferring to the University of Alabama’s statement on the matter.”
Yet not until Spears finally filed two months later in May of 2023 did the Times even have the decency to issue a correction.
“On Wednesday, Spears filed a defamation suit against The Times that included new details about the incident,” read the correction. “Based on that information, editors assigned further reporting, which determined that the other person at the scene was not Spears but Cooper Lee, a student manager for the team. The Times regrets the error in the initial report.”
After The Times — known by many conservatives as The New York Slime — lost their suit this week, they predictably cried foul.
“We’re disappointed the jury found The Times liable for an honest mistake,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We thank the jury for its service, but believe the verdict and award of damages are contrary to law and not supported by the evidence. We are reviewing our legal options.”
BREAKING: Jury sides with former Alabama basketball player Kai Spears in his defamation case against the New York Times.
Jury orders the newspaper to pay him roughly $9.25 million in damages.
Will have a full story later pic.twitter.com/HZccWGVLHF
— Ryan Phillips (@JournoRyan) August 20, 2026
In its own reporting about getting its ass handed to it in court, the Times shamelessly boasted how it had “not lost a defamation lawsuit brought in the United States over one of its articles in more than 50 years.”
“One of those defeats came in 1964’s New York Times v Sullivan, brought by Montgomery police commissioner L. B. Sullivan over a newspaper ad criticizing police over their treatment of Civil Rights protesters,” according to AL.com.
The Times is also currently facing a $15 billion defamation suit brought by President Donald Trump.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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