Joe Francis Loses $20M Lawsuit to Steve Wynn

You might remember that d-bag extraordinaire Joe Francis, the creator of the Girls Gone Wild franchise, racked up a huge gambling debt at Steve Wynn’s casinos in the last few years (around $2.5M), and apparently never paid it.

Being the prick that he is, Francis refused to pay it and Wynn was forced to take him to court and last year, Francis was charged with felony theft and fraud. To this, Francis turned around and claimed that Wynn’s neighbor, Quincy Jones, told him that the casino mogul said he would kill Francis and “bury him in the desert”. Francis then also said he was told Wynn had ties to the mob.

Well of course Wynn was having none of this and took the sick pervert to court for defamation, saying he never said any of those things, and now we’ve learned the $20M verdict is in, and it’s on Wynn’s side.

Here are some deets (via TMZ): Francis has been ordered to pay $5M for defamatory comments (against Wynn) he made to a TMZ producer in a courtroom hallway; the jury added another $11M for statements he made on Good Morning America.

Though all of the details aren’t known right now, we do know the total toll is said to be roughly $20M, and now the jury will decide if Francis will be hit with punitive damages, which could cost him another $60M.

Well the only thing I can muster from this story is “hahahahahahahaha”. There, I feel much better.

Update: As of Tuesday, Francis has now been ordered to pay another $20M in punitive damages, with a grand total so far being $40M. Wynn has said he will donate the money he wins to charity, and Francis “plans to contest the verdict and expects the decision to be overturned,” according to TMZ.