Ex-NFL star Kordell Stewart wins $3million judgment against YouTube sensation who claiming gay relationship

By ZARA RUBIN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Ex-NFL quarterback Kordell Stewart has scored a $3 million victory against viral video star Andrew Caldwell who claimed the two had a gay relationship.

In November last year, a judge awarded Stewart, 44, a ‘default judgment’ against Caldwell, who failed to turn up to the proceedings.

Then on March 10, according to documents seen exclusively by DailyMail.com, Stewart was awarded $1.5 million in general damages and $1.5 million in punitive damages as his reputation was ‘significantly’ hurt by the claims.

The $3 million victory is less than the NFL star had hoped, however – he sued Caldwell for $4.5 million last month, citing loss of earnings, emotional distress and impairment to his image.

In October 2015, Caldwell, 38, went on TheShakeUp Show and claimed he’d dated Stewart and that the former pro football player had bought him expensive gifts.

On the show – a video of which remains on YouTube – Caldwell said: ‘I dated Kordell.’

He was asked ‘Kordell who?’ and answered: ‘Kordell… with Porsha.’

He told the show’s presenters that he had met him ‘in a bar, in a restaurant’, and said: ‘I shook his hand, oh my God, it’s you.’

But he said it was not a lasting relationship and said: ‘It was only a one time thing.’

He added: ‘I am going to tell the women and I am going to tell Miss Porsha: “Darling, you know damn well he is gay.”‘

He added:  ‘If you’re gay, you can just get a vibe from someone and know they are, too.’

In the video, he says that he doesn’t ‘need any more money’ since he already has money from his various ‘affairs’ with men, including Stewart.

About the expensive gifts he says he received from Stewart, he explained: ‘I had everything Porsha got – I had purses, cars – I mean I’m in a Jaguar right now.’

Caldwell had first become well-known for another video, in which he screamed in church: ‘I’m not gay no more’.

But Stewart sued Caldwell and said that the allegations of ‘homosexual relations’ were made when he was married to Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams, 35, and were made in an attempt to harm his marriage.

He also claimed that his then 9-year-old son, Syre, was bullied because of the rumors.

Stewart denied the allegations and his suit stated, ‘at all times during his life, Mr. Stewart has been, and is, a heterosexual male.’

The suit, filed in Georgia, called the allegations, ‘false and defamatory.’

While Caldwell has since publicly apologized and retracted his statements, a representative from his management team today declined DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

But in a previous statement, his spokesman stood by the gay relationship claims.

‘Mr Caldwell has not been served any documents referenced in the Daily Mail article dated February 24, 2017.

‘However, should he be properly served by a court with jurisdiction, he welcomes the opportunity to detail, under oath, his sexual encounter with Mr. Stewart.

‘This is not the first time Mr. Stewart has desperately sought media attention by professing his heterosexuality, nor the first time he’s threatened a lawsuit against Mr. Caldwell.

‘Mr. Caldwell will aggressively defend himself in a court proceeding should that be warranted. Until then, he is very excited about his new ventures and will focus on his new website, his designer t-shirt line and launching his YouTube channel.’

‘However, should he be properly served by a court with jurisdiction, he welcomes the opportunity to detail, under oath, his sexual encounter with Mr. Stewart.

‘This is not the first time Mr. Stewart has desperately sought media attention by professing his heterosexuality, nor the first time he’s threatened a lawsuit against Mr. Caldwell.

‘Mr. Caldwell will aggressively defend himself in a court proceeding should that be warranted. Until then, he is very excited about his new ventures and will focus on his new website, his designer t-shirt line and launching his YouTube channel.’

Stewart’s suit explained that before the allegations, he was known as the star quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers but is now plagued with ‘illegitimate’ questions about his sexuality ‘personally and professionally in a sports industry that has made homosexuality an unenviable, controversial and taboo topic.’

He also said that he had to turn down several public appearances during the ‘saga’ and declined offers to host, speak or participate in various events that cost him in excess of $875,000 to $1 million.

This is not the first time Stewart has been forced to defend his sexuality. In 2013, he was moved to deny he was gay after Williams hinted that his sexuality may have been a factor in their split.