Steve Wynn gains $7.5 million from Joe Francis lawsuit
The ongoing dispute between Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn and ‘Girls Gone Wild’ creator Joe Francis has finally come to an end. During a court hearing on Wednesday, the judges of Nevada District Court reached a decision and ordered Joe Francis to pay a total amount of $7.5 million in damages to Steve Wynn.
The beef between the two multi-millionaires started back in 2008 when Steve Wynn and Wynn Las Vegas filed a lawsuit against Joe Francis for failing to pay back the $2 million debt he reportedly incurred at the Wynn Las Vegas Casino. The lawsuit later intensified when Joe Francis threatened to expose the ways in which the casino head “deceives his high-end customers.”
David Francis, Joe Francis attorney said in a statement that he and his client intend to appeal the court order, citing that “Joe was not allowed to defend himself.”
After the court hearing, Nevada District Court Judge Mark Denton ruled in favor of Steve Wynn and Wynn Las Vegas, awarding $5 million in compensatory and $2.5 million in punitive damages. The ruling disproves the false claims against Steve Wynn and Wynn Las Vegas that Joe Francis has publicly announced over the course of three years.
Joe Francis still owes $2 million plus interest and fees to Wynn Las Vegas as determined by the Nevada District Court in 2009. That judgment still stands and Wynn Las Vegas will continue its efforts to identify and attach assets of Francis to satisfy both judgments.
Entrepreneur Joe Francis made headlines earlier this month after he issued a cease-and-desist letter to Madonna, NBC Universal and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell demanding that the pop icon refrain from performing her new song “Girls Gone Wild” at the Super Bowl.