5 Years Later, SeaWorld Still Paying for Blackfish

SeaWorld will pay $4 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the theme park misled investors by downplaying the impact that the 2013 documentary Blackfish had on its reputation and business. Per the Wall Street Journal, former CEO James Atchison will also pay more than $1 million as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which claimed "untrue and misleading statements or omissions" in communications between December 2013 and mid-August 2014, when SeaWorld acknowledged a drop in attendance tied to the documentary painting orca captivity as cruel. Its share price then dropped by almost a third in one day, reports the BBC. SeaWorld and Atchison did not admit to or deny the claims, per the Journal. (More SeaWorld stories.)