Chris Gayle wins $220,000 in defamation suit against Fairfax Media
West Indian southpaw Chris Gayle was awarded $220,000 by a court, on Monday, as he had won the defamation case in October 2017, filed by him in 2016, against Fairfax Media for publishing a false report. The media house had claimed that Gayle exposed himself to a masseuse during the 2015 World Cup. However, no concrete proof was found in this regard. Here's more.
Details of the case and the accusation against Gayle
When the incident first came to light, the masseuse, Leanne Russell, had said that Gayle pulled up his towel, giving her a glimpse of his penis. She also said that the shocking incident had such a grave effect on her that she ended up crying for two-and-a-half hours. Moreover, Russell also accused another cricketer, Dwayne Smith, of sending her a lewd text. Notably, Smith was in the changing room during the alleged incident.
Dwayne Smith had come to Gayle's defense
Smith admitted texting the word "sexy" to Russell, but when he was asked by Fairfax Media's barrister, Matthew Collins, whether he saw Gayle exposing himself to Russell or telling her "Is this what you are looking for?" while pulling up his towel, he replied in the negative. Smith stood by his statement when Collins suggested that what he was saying might be false.
Gayle had vehemently denied the accusations
When Gayle was asked in a Sydney court about the allegations brought against him, he vehemently denied the claims. He said that when he arrived at the stadium where the incident reportedly took place, he was already wearing his national jersey and did not wear a towel throughout the day. He also said that the allegations had hurt his reputation throughout the world.
How did the news reach the media?
Sports editor of the publication The Age, Chloe Saltau, was the one who first reported the incident. Russell was a colleague of Saltau's husband, and that is how the two were acquainted. Gayle's earlier indecent behavior with a TV presenter and this alleged harassment of Russell is what instigated Saltau to make the report. However, The Age was unable to produce any concrete evidence.
