On Thursday, a Utah judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed against Russell Westbrook and the Utah Jazz.
During a March 11, 2019, game in Salt Lake City between the Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder, an altercation between Westbrook — then playing for Oklahoma City — and two fans resulted in the fans being indefinitely banned from the arena.
The suit, filed in the 4th District Court in Utah County, alleged that Westbrook’s postgame comments as well as a subsequent Jazz press release and speech by then-owner Gail Miller were defamatory and caused intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress to the plaintiffs, Shane Keisel and Jennifer Huff.
Westbrook spoke to reporters after the game in question and said the fans’ comments to him were “racial.”
The Jazz’s press release described the ban of Keisel, without naming him, as being “based on excessive and derogatory verbal abuse directed at a player.”
Miller’s speech, made at Vivint Arena before the next Jazz home game, expressed disappointment in the conduct that occurred on March 11.
“This should never happen. We are not a racist community,” Miller said. “We have a code of conduct in this arena. It will be strictly enforced.”
Keisel and Huff argued that they were painted as racists.
The court heard oral arguments in the case on April 5.
Judge Derek P. Pullan, in granting a summary judgment in favor of Westbrook and the Jazz, concluded that being called a “racist” is a matter of opinion and cannot be factually proven true or false, meaning that statements made by Westbrook and the Jazz were constitutionally protected by the opinion privilege.
“The Court’s conclusion today — that calling a person racist or attributing racist statements to him is not actionable in defamation — serves important policies underlying the First Amendment,” the decision read. “It is only in the free expression of these ideas the nation can hope to heal the historic wounds of slavery and racial injustice that fester still today. That healing cannot occur if public dialogue about racism is silenced under threat of defamation liability.”
The judgment also concluded that since Westbrook never identified Keisel or Huff, “the statement is not actionable in defamation.”