Ventura is on the record saying he offered several times to drop the suit in exchange for a retraction, but Kyle refused. You can't expect a public figure to allow his name to be tarnished.

Plus, the courts found Ventura's suit to be legitimate. There were no witnesses to the incident and there were conflicting testimonies (for instance, it was claimed he was at the bar around 5:30 pm when he has a receipt showing his arrival much later).

Does it suck that the widow has to pay? Yeah, of course, but I'm sure she has the money from book sales - a lot of royalties which may have come from a fabricated story. It's understandable.