A jury in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, has found conservative blogger Summer Bushnell guilty of defamation and ordered her to pay over $1.1 million in damages to drag queen Eric Posey. The Kootenai County District Court jury unanimously determined that Bushnell had defamed Posey by posting a doctored video claiming he had exposed himself to a crowd, including children, during a Pride event in June 2022.
Posey, who performs as Mona Liza Million, had appeared at the event in a long-sleeve leotard, black shorts, tights and a metallic boa around his waist, without removing any clothing. Bushnell posted a video discussing the arrest of 31 members of a white supremacist group near the Pride event, along with edited footage from Posey’s performance, claiming a blurred spot covered his “fully exposed genitals.”
1/2.Eric Posey, a drag performer known as Mona Liza Million in Idaho, has won a defamation lawsuit against conservative blogger Summer Bushnell.
The Associated Press reports that a jury unanimously found https://t.co/1XLoiImXzZ
— Pamela Hohlbein (she/her) (@PamelaHohlbein) May 28, 2024
Despite Bushnell’s urging viewers to call the police and have Posey arrested, prosecutors declined to file charges after reviewing the unedited video, which didn’t appear to show indecent exposure. Posey said he faced harassment and death threats due to Bushnell’s false allegations.
The jury awarded Posey $926,000 in compensatory damages and an additional $250,000 in punitive damages, finding that Bushnell had made the accusations with reckless disregard for the truth or knowing they were false. Bushnell’s attorney argued that her comments were “close to the line” but did not meet the threshold for defamation.
