Report: Judge orders Reggie Bush to pay Lloyd Lake $1.4 million in defamation case

Reggie Bush will reportedly have to pay out a large sum of money to San Diego’s Lloyd Lake. According to Ryan Kartje of the LA Times, a California-based judge upheld an arbitrator’s decision to award Lake nearly $1.4 million in his defamation suit against Bush.

It all stems from a suit filed by Lake over two years ago: “Lake filed the suit against Bush back in February 2023, along with his parents, Roy and Barbara Gunner, alleging that Bush publicly disparaged and defamed him during a podcast appearance and in social media posts and, as such, violated the non-disparagement clause they agreed upon in a previous settlement,” Kartje wrote.

“The comments, according to Lake and his parents’ complaint, ‘created a firestorm of vitriol’ that saw the Gunner home vandalized with graffiti and left them fearing for their safety.”

It’s not the first suit between Lake and Bush. The businessman and the former football star have been connected over the past two decades due to Bush receiving a myriad of gifts during his time with the Trojans, which famously led to his Heisman Trophy being taken away, and the NCAA hitting USC with some serious sanctions.

With the advent of NIL in today’s college space, Bush has been more open about his time at USC. That prompted him to speak about Lake, which violated the non-disparagement agreement in their 2010 settlement, per Kartje.

“In an appearance on the I Am Athlete podcast, Bush opened up about the emotional toll the case and losing his Heisman Trophy took on him and his family,” Kartje wrote. “… During the 2022 podcast interview, Bush went on to accuse Lake of blackmail and exaggerate Lake’s criminal record, which he said was ‘as long as the Cheesecake Factory menu.’ Months later, in a Twitter post, Bush falsely accused Lake of being a convicted rapist.

“The same week the podcast was published, the Gunners’ home was vandalized with graffiti. The threatening message left behind, written in red spray paint on an outside wall, read: ‘Help Reggie Bush Get His Trophy Back F— Crook.’ The number ‘187’ was also spray-painted on the wall, which the plaintiff’s attorneys say referred to the state Penal Code number for murder. They blamed the graffiti on ‘unknown bad actors’ working ‘on behalf of or at the direction of Bush.'”

While Lake’s attorneys originally tried to bring the case to a jury trial, a judge ruled in June 2024 that Lake’s lawsuit against Bush would go to binding, confidential arbitration, per the terms of their original settlement, Kartje added. That’s when the arbitrator in the case, Jeffrey G. Benz, ruled in Lake’s favor.

Lake was awarded $500,000, as well as $764,640 in attorneys’ fees and $116,780 in other costs, according to court documents per Kartje. Meanwhile, “Bush’s attorneys continued to challenge the ruling by arguing that Benz had exceeded his authority as the arbitrator,” the LA Times noted.

“Their latest challenge was quashed this week by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Eric Harmon, who took only a few hours to reaffirm the arbitrator’s decision. But Bush and his legal team succeeded, in one respect: Bush’s responses to Lake’s petition, as well as other supporting exhibits and documents pertaining to Bush’s side of the case, remain under seal or heavily redacted.”

Regardless, this 20-year saga is something Reggie Bush will be hoping to put behind him. At least he has his Heisman Trophy back, which was a major story over the past couple of years.