Jesse Ventura says 'American Sniper' fake; Kyle is no hero
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — "American Sniper" is tops at the box office but don't expect to see former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura lining up at a theater for it.
Ventura, a
former Navy SEAL, won $1.8 million in a defamation lawsuit last year
against the estate of the late Chris Kyle, the SEAL protagonist of the
movie, which has sparked debate over whether snipers should be
considered heroes. Ventura said Wednesday he won't see the film partly
because Kyle is no hero to him.
"A
hero must be honorable, must have honor. And you can't have honor if
you're a liar. There is no honor in lying," Ventura told The Associated
Press from his winter home in Baja California, Mexico. He also noted
that the movie isn't playing there.
Ventura also dismissed the movie
as propaganda because it conveys the false idea that Iraq had something
to do with the 9/11 attacks. "It's as authentic as 'Dirty Harry,'" he
said, referring to fictional movie series starring Clint Eastwood, the
director of "American Sniper."
Ventura
testified Kyle fabricated a subchapter in his "American Sniper" book in
which Kyle claimed he punched out a man, whom he later identified as
Ventura, at a California bar in 2006 for allegedly saying the SEALs
"deserve to lose a few" in Iraq. Ventura said it never happened.
The
jury gave Ventura the legal vindication he craved. Publisher
HarperCollins removed the passage from the best-seller, and it gets no
mention in the movie. Kyle's estate has appealed. Ventura's separate
lawsuit against HarperCollins remains pending.
The former wrestler is now
working on the second season of his online-only political talk show "Off
the Grid" at Ora.tv, which he records in Mexico, where he lives in a
solar-powered home with a satellite Internet connection.
Ed
Huddleston, a lawyer for Kyle's widow, Taya Kyle, said they won't
comment on Ventura's remarks because the lawsuit is on appeal.
Kyle was killed in 2013 on a shooting range. The former Marine charged in his death goes on trial in Texas next month.
The
"American Sniper" film has been a sensation at the box office and has
earned more than $200 million domestically since it was released last
Christmas day 2014.
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