Ex-Kings player Richaun Holmes settles defamation lawsuit with no payment from McClatchy, Bee

Former Sacramento Kings player Richaun Holmes has settled his defamation lawsuit against the parent company of The Sacramento Bee with an agreement that the McClatchy Co. will be dismissed from the action and will not pay any money to Holmes.

An online filing in Sacramento Superior Court on Tuesday by Holmes attorney Samuel Moniz says that the parties “have reached a settlement in this matter” involving McClatchy. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This lawsuit settlement — which includes no payment to Richaun Holmes — affirms the First Amendment rights of The Sacramento Bee,” Colleen McCain Nelson, executive editor of The Sacramento Bee and McClatchy’s California news outlets, said in a statement Wednesday. “In her columns and editorials, Bee opinion writer Robin Epley reported fairly and truly on Mr. Holmes’ custody dispute and appropriately represented her opinion on his ex-wife’s allegations.”

Holmes sued McClatchy, opinion writer Robin Epley and Holmes’ ex-wife, Allexis Holmes, over a series of columns and editorials about a custody dispute between Holmes and his ex-wife.

He claimed in the suit, which was filed in March, that the stories damaged his reputation, personal brand and goodwill in the community.

McClatchy argued in court papers that the statements in the columns about Holmes were fair and true reports of the judicial proceedings involving Holmes and were protected by the First Amendment. The company also argued that Holmes had not been damaged by the columns.

“We believed all along that the columns about Mr. Holmes were a fair and true report of judicial proceedings and expressions of opinion by The Bee,” McClatchy attorney Karl Olson said. “And I think the settlement of this case without any payment by The Bee to Mr. Holmes is consistent with that.”

Holmes’ attorney Camille Vasquez issued a statement Wednesday lauding her client and the fact that the lawsuit has been settled, adding that Holmes was awarded custody of his son, “an extremely rare feat for a father, but also found him to the be only parent capable of caring for his child.”

“We’re pleased the matter has now been resolved and Mr. Holmes is enthusiastic about a new chapter in his life as a father and basketball player,” Vasquez said.