ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million to US President-elect Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over inaccurate remarks made by anchor George Stephanopoulos..
The lawsuit stemmed from Stephanopoulos’ claim during a March 10 broadcast of ‘This Week’ that Trump had been found civilly liable for raping writer E Jean Carroll, a statement that mischaracterized the legal findings in Carroll’s lawsuits against Trump.
The settlement, made public on Saturday, also includes a $1 million payment to cover Trump’s legal fees and a public apology from ABC News. The network will post a note on its website expressing regret for the error, according to court documents.
Legal dispute and settlement termsTrump’s lawsuit, filed in March in the US District Court for Southern Florida, accused Stephanopoulos and ABC News of defamation, alleging the comments were made with malice and recklessness. The settlement specifies that ABC must publish a correction by Sunday, reading, "ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep Nancy Mace on ABC's This Week on March 10, 2024."
In its statement, ABC News said: “We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing.”
Context of the claimsThe controversy centres on Stephanopoulos’ assertion, made during an interview with Rep Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), that Trump was “found liable for rape.” The claim misrepresented the findings in two civil lawsuits brought by Carroll.
In 2023, a jury held Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll and defaming her, awarding her $5 million in damages. Earlier this year, he was found liable on additional defamation claims and ordered to pay $83.3 million. Trump has denied the allegations and is appealing both verdicts.
As per Reuters, neither case involved a finding of rape under New York’s legal definition. Judge Lewis Kaplan clarified that the jury determined Carroll had not proven rape “within the narrow, technical meaning of a particular section of the New York Penal Law.”
However, Kaplan acknowledged the term “rape” is often understood more broadly in common usage and other contexts.
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