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Good news for ‘Girls Gone Wild’ creator Joe Francis….well sort of.
Turns out he won’t have to pay casino mogul Steve Wynn $40 million after all.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joanne O'Donnell issued the ruling Friday, reducing the jury award in a defamation suit by $21 million.
An L.A. Count Superior Court jury in September determined that the “Girls Gone Wild” video franchise owner, Francis, had knowingly made false statements against Wynn. Francis had told reporters that Wynn threatened to kill him with a shovel over the head and bury him in the desert. The jury found that Francis acted maliciously in making such statements.
"He told lies. He used the media to get it out there," said Wynn's lead lawyer, Barry Langberg, in lauding the verdict.
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Francis made the accusations after amassing a $12 million debt at Wynn’s Las Vegas casino.
Francis said he will appeal the remainder of the verdict.
"Judge O'Donnell committed a judicial error by allowing this case to even proceed to a trial, and she knows it," Francis said. "This is only the first step of her back peddling and unwinding her illegal actions in order to try to keep her job as a judge."
Wynn's attorney Mitchell Langberg said the casino executive was not disappointed by the ruling. "Steve Wynn is very happy with a $19 million compensatory damages award.”
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
