Jesse's Statement on 'American Sniper' & the Chris Kyle Lawsuit

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DECEMBER 18, 2014 - Today, on his podcast “We the People with Jesse Ventura,” the former governor gives an updated statement about American Sniper as the book-turned-movie comes to theaters next week.

Jesse Ventura explains there are still many “misconceptions” about his recent lawsuit win against Chris Kyle’s book publishing company:

“[One] of the grave misconceptions about this lawsuit: I was taking money from a widow and her children -- no I wasn’t. Her expenses were paid entirely from a giant insurance company. The Kyle family hasn’t suffered one dime of monetary loss,” Jesse Ventura says.

“My lawsuit was to clear my name and show this was a fabrication and a lie,” he continues. He explains that the lawsuit was over what Scruff Face, the character Kyle depicted as Jesse Ventura in American Sniper, said against the Navy SEALS and the military.

“My lawsuit was originally started because this person in the chapter, Scruff Face, committed treason. The chapter took the book to number one and ultimately got it the movie deal. The point is, this was fabricated. It never happened,” Ventura says. “I would never say anything like that against my own unit or the military itself.”

During his podcast statement, Jesse Ventura explains he went to settlements “four or five times” before going to trial.All he asked was for the publisher to remove the "Scruff Face" chapter and for Chris Kyle to publicly admit to the lie; they refused.

“The only thing I was offered was money,” said Ventura.  “I refused to settle because to me it wasn’t about money, it was about the truth…they would do nothing to restore my reputation…the only way to stop [the lie] was to bring a lawsuit.”

He also addresses the monetary outcome of the trial: “The jury gave me what they felt I was damaged. The majority of that money is going to my attorney. Again, this will cost the Kyle family nothing for the lie that was written about me.”

And what does Jesse Ventura think about the book being a nonfiction account of a soldier’s experiences, both home and abroad?

“The book is not a true story. The book had fabrication and fiction written into it. [The Scruff Face] chapter was absolutely fabricated."

Jesse Ventura ends his statement by thanking his fans for standing by him through the trial: “You don’t know how much it means to me. I’ve lost friendships over this, I’ve lost things very close to me over this, my life will never be the same because of this, and I can only state I am a complete innocent victim of the whole thing. I don’t know why I was thrown under the bus.”

Listen to the full statement on this week's edition of WE THE PEOPLE.