Could a nap be worth $10 million? That’s the lawsuit filed by one Yankee fan who was mocked for sleeping during a game. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
A sleepy Yankee fan found himself being mocked on national television as he caught some Z's during a New York Yankees / Boston Red Sox game.
A TV announcer said, "It's not the place you come to sleep. Tell you what though, how comfortable is that?"
Now, 26-year-old Andrew Rector has filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against ESPN, the Yankees, Major League Baseball, and also the announcing team.
Announcer Dan Shulman said on-air, "Did he sleep through the Beltran homer? I mean, 45,000 people stood up and cheer and he sleeps through it?”
“It could be tough but he seemed comfortable," replied fellow announcer John Kruk.
The New York Post calls the litigious napper a "Snore Loser."
The video recalls the classic Seinfeld moment when George was caught stuffing ice cream into his mouth at the U.S. Open.
The lawsuit claims the announcers called the sleeping fan a “fatty, unintelligent, stupid"
and “a fatty cow."
Actually, the announcers, Dan Shulman and John Kruk, never used those words. The disparaging remarks came after the snooze fest was posted online.
So, is this lawsuit to be taken seriously? Not really, according to attorney Rosemarie Arnold, who says poking fun at the sleeping fan is fair game.
She told INSIDE EDITION, "You have no expectation of privacy when you go to a public game like that. You can't be successful in a suit against the announcers because of things other people said."
Hear More from Arnold
ESPN tells INSIDE EDITION: “The comments attributed to ESPN and our announcers were clearly not said in our telecast. The claims presented here are wholly without merit.”
