(CN) — An Oklahoma jury on Monday found the state’s largest newspaper owes $25 million for publishing false accusations about the source of racist comments broadcast on a hot mic during a high school girl’s basketball game in 2021.
The incident occurred prior to the game between Norman High School and Midwest City High School, when players for the former kneeled during a recording of the national anthem in a show of solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement. In response, a man’s voice was heard on a livestream broadcast of the game calling the players a racial epithet, adding he hoped the team would “get their ass kicked.”
A reporter for The Oklahoman later attributed the comments to former coach and announcer Scott Sapulpa, relying on a single confidential source but never confirming with Sapulpa himself before the story was published. Afterward, a broadcaster named Matt Rowan took responsibility for the comments.
But as the false story gathered more than 190,000 page views and was widely shared on social media, the consequences for Sapulpa were swift and severe.
“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,” according to Cassie Barkett, one of Sapulpa’s attorneys. “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.”
The jury’s verdict includes $5 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in punitive damages, representing a “landmark defamation case,” according to Sapulpa's attorneys at the Smith Barkett Law Group.
Witnesses included a crisis and reputation management expert who testified it would take nearly $1 million to suppress negative content published online about Sapulpa after the incident. Joel Kaplan, a journalism professor at Syracuse University, told the court “The Oklahoman violated Gannett’s policy by allowing the reporter to offer confidentiality to sources independently without editor approval.”
Kaplan also said the paper's lack of verification or follow-up amounted to an egregious example of journalistic malpractice.
“We are satisfied with the jury’s verdict. It underscores the significance of truth, highlighting the consequences of falsely presenting someone as making racist remarks,” Barkett said in a statement. “The acknowledgment by the jury signifies that The Oklahoman fell short of its journalistic standards in reporting such a sensitive matter.”
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