ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million to United Sates President-elect Donald Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit arising from comments made by its star anchor, George Stephanopoulos.
The anchor falsely claimed during a 10 March, 2024 broadcast that Trump had been found “liable for rape.”
The allegations were made during an interview with South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace on ABC’s ‘This Week’.
Stephanopoulos repeated the statement 10 times, sparking legal action from Trump.
The claims contradicted a 2023 New York civil court ruling that found Trump liable for “sexual abuse” against writer E. Jean Carroll, but not rape, under New York law’s narrower definition.
Under the settlement, ABC News will pay $15 million as a charitable contribution toward a “Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plaintiff, as Presidents of the United States of America have established in the past.” The network will also cover $1 million of Trump’s legal fees.
In addition to the financial terms, ABC News agreed to publish a statement expressing its “regret” for the incorrect claims. An editor’s note will be added to its 10 March 2024 online article about the interview, stating:
“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.”
An ABC News spokesperson said, “The company is pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing.”
The civil case that sparked the controversy involved allegations from Ms. Carroll, who claimed Trump sexually abused her in a department store dressing room in 1996.
The jury concluded that Ms. Carroll had failed to prove rape under the strict legal definition of New York law but found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the case, emphasised that the legal definition of rape in New York is “far narrower” than its common understanding in modern parlance or other jurisdictions.
The jury’s ruling ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages to Ms. Carroll for additional defamatory statements.
Trump’s defamation case against ABC News was one of several high-profile lawsuits involving the media.
The president-elect filed suits against CBS and the BBC’s US partner, accusing them of “deceptive conduct.”
However, a judge dismissed his 2023 lawsuit against CNN, which alleged the network likened him to Adolf Hitler. Lawsuits against ‘The New York Times’ and ‘The Washington Post’ were also dismissed in recent years.
