Jesse Ventura sues the widow of the 'American Sniper' saying that Chris Kyle defamed the former wrestler by writing about how he 'punched him in a bar fight'



The former Minnesota governor and professional wrestler is now suing the widow of a former Navy SEAL sniper for defamation because the soldier wrote about an alleged fight he had with Ventura.

Ventura initially filed the suit against Chris Kyle, the SEAL who had the most confirmed kills in American military history, because Kyle said that he knocked Ventura to the floor during a fight outside of a bar.

Ventura, now 61, has now refiled the suit and against Kyle's wife Taya after Kyle was killed in February when he was shot by a former soldier who allegedly had PTSD.

Following the lawsuit: Jesse Ventura, who was the governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, filed a suit against a Navy SEAL for defamation after he allegedly punched Ventura in a bar fight

Moving on: Now Ventura is filing a new suit against Chris Kyle's widow Taya (left) after Chris died in February (right). He argues that Kyle's estate shouldn't benefit from the story, featured in his book American Sniper

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune , Ventura's lawyers argued that the suit outlasts Mr Kyle,/

'Although Kyle is deceased, his ‘American Sniper’ book continues to sell and it is soon to be made into a movie,' the motion read.

'It would be unjust to permit the estate to continue to profit from Kyle’s wrongful conduct and to leave Governor Ventura without redress for ongoing damage to his reputation.'

During his promotion of the book in January 2012, Mr Kyle spoke about the alleged fight with Ventura, saying that he punched the former governor when he was making anti-war statements outside of a bar frequented by Navy SEALS.



Not only was the bar popular among military service members, but they were also there in droves at the time because they attended after the wake of a fallen SEAL who threw himself on a grenade.

Defamation: Ventura originally became famous for his work as a professional wrestler (left, seen in 1985) and the prospect of being beaten by a former SEAL like Chris Kyle (right) would apparently be grounds for defamation

'He was bad-mouthing the war, bad-mouthing (former President) Bush, bad-mouthing America,' Mr Kyle told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly.

'He told us that we were killing innocent people over there, men women children, that we were murders,' Mr Kyle said, adding that he told the governor to tone down his rhetoric.

'And then he said that we deserved to lose a few guys.'

That's when Mr Kyle slugged Mr Ventura in the face, he says.

'That happened? You knocked him out?' Mr O'Reilly asks.

'Well, I knocked him down,' Mr Kyle responds.

Mr Ventura denies that version of events, and believes that the lawsuit is necessary given the possibility for profit by his widow.

Mrs Kyle's lawyer said that the refiling of the suit 'comes as a disappointment, but no surprise'.