• by Ray Schultz , February 6, 2024

Gannett plans to appeal a jury verdict that awarded $25 million to Scott Sapulpa, a former assistant football coach, who was misidentified as the speaker of racist remarks during a high school girls’ basketball game.  

The Muskogee County jury awarded Sapulpa $5 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in punitive damages for the report in The Oklahoman, the Gannett newspaper writes.

The award followed a two-week defamation trial.  

The incident occurred in 2021. The Oklahoman had wrongly identified Sapulpa as having made racist comments during a kneeling incident involving the Norman High School team. 

The jury also found the newspaper, said to be Oklahoma’s largest, intentionally inflicted emotional distress.