It just got messyyyy in Oklahoma. A jury just awarded a man over $20 million in damages from a defamation lawsuit. He claimed he was falsely identified as the one who made racist comments over the announcers mic during a girls basketball game in 2021.
Poor Scott Sapulpa got hemmed up in a whole racist scandal he had no part of. Now, y’all know once the internet labels someone a racist, it’s pretty much “off with their heads!” and ask questions later. According to a CBS report, Sapulpa and broadcast company owner Matt Rowan were announcers at a girls basketball game between Norman and Midwest City in March 2021. While on livestream, an announcer is heard giving a lame diss to the players during the national anthem.
“They’re kneeling? (expletive) (racial slur). I hope Norman get their ass kicked. (expletive) them. I hope they lose…” said the announcer on the live microphone, infuriating tons of viewers.
In typical news fashion, The Oklahoman went to go snoop out who was talking trash. However, they landed on Sapulpa as the culprit and named him in the article. The article was only up for a little over two hours but in news time, it might as well be forever.
It was already a wrap for him even though they had the wrong guy.
Read more from CBS News:
Sapulpa’s lawyers said that he faced threats after the incident.
“Sapulpa, once a respected teacher and coach, faced a barrage of threats, hate calls, and messages after the story was published and picked up by other media outlets, leading to his virtual termination from his position,” lawyer Cassie Barkett said in a statement. “The impact extended to Sapulpa’s personal life, forcing him to delete all social media accounts as his contact information went viral, resulting in further harassment.”
Sapulpa sued both the newspaper and their parent company, Gannett, accusing them of intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation, the report says. In turn, the Muskogee County jury awarded him $5 million in actual damages and $20 million in punitive damages. A Gannett spokesperson told CBS they intend to appeal the decision, asserting there was no evidence to prove the publication had any intentions of harming Sapulpa.
Meanwhile, Rowan admitted to The Oklahoman that he was the one using racist language. Though, in a statement to TMZ, he said he went off the rails because his blood sugar was too high (insert eye roll).
“I will state that I suffer Type 1 Diabetes and during the game, my sugar was spiking. While not excusing my remarks, it is not unusual when my sugar spikes that I become disoriented and often say things that are not appropriate as well as hurtful,” said Rowan.
Yeah yeah, whatever. It’s unclear if he faced the same if not similar backlash than his announcing partner.