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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A judge today conditionally awarded Boston Celtics player Tristan Thompson a little more than half the $100,000 he sought from a woman who he maintained had maligned his professional image by falsely saying he is the father of her 5-year-old son.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Timothy Dillon said that while Thompson had submitted enough evidence to demonstrate he had been dealt a loss of reputation and experienced shame and hurt feelings, the NBA player had not shown what special damages Kimberly Alexander's actions had caused him to suffer on a business or trade level.
“While (Thompson) testifies that he has not received an endorsement deal since January 2020, there is insufficient evidence that (Alexander's) statements are the causal link,'' Dillon wrote. “(Thompson) offers no evidence of any specific endorsement deal that he lost or any job opportunities he lost based on the conduct at issue in this action. Other factors may be reasons for the lack of endorsements.''
The judge conditionally awarded Thompson just under $53,000, representing $50,000 in general damages and costs. The award is dependent upon Thompson's attorneys submitting a judgment and dismissing the unidentified “Doe'' defendants remaining in the case.
Thompson, 30, originally sued Alexander in May 2020, then filed a revised complaint Feb. 24, alleging libel and invasion of privacy, and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Alexander, a North Hollywood resident who is representing herself in the litigation, could not be immediately reached for comment.
“For the five years prior to Ms. Alexander first publishing her defamatory statements falsely asserting that I am the father of her son ... I regularly received and accepted offers of endorsement deals worth an average of approximately $250,000 per year,'' Thompson stated in a sworn declaration in support of his default judgment request.
Alexander is dubbed in Thompson's action as a “wannabe social media influencer and pornographic model/performer who is so desperate to achieve her 15 minutes of fame that she recently fabricated a false claim that NBA star/(Boston Celtics) center/power forward Thompson is the father of her 5-year-old son.''
If Alexander had a legitimate belief that Thompson was the father of her child, she would have sought financial support for the child years ago, the suit stated.
Although a DNA test determined Thompson is not the father of the child, she has “maliciously accused Thompson of being a deadbeat dad, neglecting and failing to take financial responsibility for the child since birth,'' the suit stated.
After the DNA test, Alexander refused to accept the results and falsely accused Thompson and others allegedly acting on his behalf, including Khloe Kardashian, the mother of Thompson's daughter, of manipulating the results, the amended suit stated.
After Thompson's lawyers sent Alexander a letter demanding she stop allegedly defaming him, she stepped up her false attacks on the NBA player on Instagram, the suit alleged.
Thompson says he agreed to take a second DNA test, but Alexander refused. He further says he is the father of two young children and takes “extremely seriously'' his responsibilities as a parent.
“Had the DNA test results shown that Ms. Alexander's child was my son, I would have done the same for (her) child without hesitation,'' Thompson says.
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