Charming West Indies star cricketer, Chris “Don’t blush baby” Gayle, is no stranger to controversies, but this time he’s having the last laugh.
On Monday, Gayle was awarded a payout of Aus $300,000 (US$221,000) from an Australian media group which claimed he exposed his genitals to a massage therapist, in a dressing room at the 2015 World Cup in Sydney.
The all-rounder was accused by Fairfax Media, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, in a series of stories in the newspapers in 2016.
In a long-awaited judgment on damages, handed down on Monday, Supreme Court Justice Lucy McCallum said those imputations were serious and “went to the heart of Mr Gayle’s professional life as a batsman”. However, she agreed with Fairfax Media’s submission that they were “not at the most serious end of the spectrum”.
“In light of the jury’s verdict I am required to assess damages on the basis that the allegation of indecent exposure was not true and that the attribution of such conduct was very damaging to Mr Gayle’s reputation,” Justice McCallum said.
Gayle strenuously denied the allegations, claiming at the time that the journalists behind the story wanted to “destroy him.” Gayle, 39, told the court the allegations made against him were “heartbreaking” and he felt compelled to come to court to “clear my name”.
His teammate Dwayne Smith, who was in the changing room at the time, also denied the incident took place.
He won his defamation case in October last year, with jurors finding Fairfax was motivated by malice and had failed to establish a defense of truth.
SOURCES: Hindustan Times / Sydney Media Herald
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