Due to a case of mistaken identity: The newspaper that lost a lawsuit will pay millions to a basketball player

The New York Times was responsible for one of the most expensive mistakes recently, in the context of the murder case of Jamea Harris. Harris, a 23-year-old young mother, was killed in a shootout while sitting in a vehicle, and those accused of her killing are University of Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and his friend Michael Davis.

Two months after the publication, The New York Times sports writer, Billy Witz, reported that basketball player Kai Spears was also present in the vehicle. When Witz tried to get a response from Spears, he was met with a refusal after the university forbade its players from being interviewed. In response, Witz contacted the player's father and presented to him that his son was expected to be mentioned among the vehicle's passengers, unless he agreed to be interviewed.

Only after Spears filed a lawsuit, about 11 weeks after the publication, the newspaper performed an additional check and found that the passenger was Cooper Lee, a student manager of the team, and not Spears.

Eight jurors in the US ruled that the newspaper defamed the player, and as part of this, they will have to pay about 1.75 million dollars for the damage caused to him and another 7.5 million dollars in punitive damages. Also, Witz apologized to Spears on the witness stand and admitted that there was a mistake in the article.

However, the ruling does not threaten the company's stability, after in the second quarter of 2026 the New York Times company reported revenues of 762.5 million dollars, and 93.4 million dollars.

In addition, as recalled, the company signed about a year ago a multi-million dollar deal with Amazon, under which it will provide direct links to New York Times articles in relevant cases.