ABC News has agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, paying out $15 million into his presidential library fund. It all began with a flub by anchor George Stephanopoulos, who wrongly told viewers that Trump was determined civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
Aside from the $15 million donation, ABC News will shoulder $1 million in the legal fees of Trump. The settlement, disclosed yesterday, also requires a public apology. ABC News will post a correction on its website, expressing regret over the mistake committed during the March 10 edition of This Week.
What Trump Alleged?
Trump’s complaint, filed in March in the U.S. District Court for Southern Florida, alleged Stephanopoulos’ statements were defamatory and made with malice. The settlement requires ABC News to print a correction by Sunday, saying:
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.”
What Has ABC News Said?
Statement As put by ABC News, satisfaction was expressed regarding the ruling as “We are satisfied that the parties have resolved their differences amicably and on terms acceptable to both sides in agreeing to dismiss the lawsuit as stipulated in the court’s filing.
The controversy began with Stephanopoulos’s statement in an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), where he said that Trump was “found liable for rape.” The remarks misrepresented the findings of two civil lawsuits filed by Carroll.
In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages. This year, he was found liable for more defamation claims and ordered to pay $83.3 million. Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations and is appealing both rulings.
Legal clarification was made that the jury did not decide Trump committed rape under New York’s narrow legal definition. Yet, Judge Lewis Kaplan stated that the term “rape” is commonly used in everyday language in a more general sense.
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