ABC News and George Stephanopoulos settled a defamation lawsuit brought by President-elect Donald J. Trump who they will now be forced to apologize to and pay $16 million.
On Saturday, the network agreed to the massive payout days before Trump and Stephanopoulos were to give depositions, sparing their star anchor further humiliation after efforts to dismiss the suit failed.
ABC News agreed to pay the $15 million as a charitable contribution to a “Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for [Trump], as Presidents of the United States of America have established in the past,” according to the settlement which also will pay $1 million in Trump’s attorney fees.
JUST IN: A day after Trump and George Stephanopoulos were ordered to appear for depositions, they settled the case.
ABC has agreed to make a $15 million contribution to Trump presidential museum/foundation and air an apology for mischaracterizing the E. Jean Carroll verdict. pic.twitter.com/ryzzdEGamj
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 14, 2024
The network and Stephanopoulos will also issue statements of “regret” in the form of an editor’s note added to a March online article that led to Trump filing the lawsuit.
“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,” the note states.
During the contentious interview with the South Carolina Republican, a rape survivor, Stephanopoulos repeatedly claimed that Trump had been “found liable for rape” in a reference to a New York City jury ordering him to pay $5 million to E. Jean Carroll for allegedly sexually abusing her in a department store back in 1996, an incident that there is no proof of and which Trump has repeatedly denied happened.
BREAKING: George Stephanopoulos and ABC are forced to apologize to President Trump and pay $15 million to settle a defamation suit.
Trump filed a defamation suit against Stephanopoulos after the anchor and former Democrat operative asserted that Trump was found “liable for… pic.twitter.com/6FLJRCMMIW
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) December 14, 2024
“You’ve endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape,” Stephanopoulos said, repeating his claim 10 times during the heated exchange with Mace.
“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” an spokesperson for ABC News told Fox News Digital.
It was noticed that the former Clinton mouthpiece and longtime Democratic party lickspittle seems to have deleted his X account.
He gone. pic.twitter.com/GQTzUUIjx3
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) December 15, 2024
X users weighed in on the “total victory” for Trump, a thorough humiliation for ABC News and its highly paid activist anchor.
“This is huge – total victory for Trump. Shame on George Stephanopoulos & ABC, who were forced to settle after the judge ordered George to sit for a deposition. They couldn’t have their star further embarrassed under oath. Good for Trump for fighting back,” conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly wrote.
This is huge – total victory for Trump. Shame on George Stephanopoulos & ABC, who were forced to settle after the judge ordered George to sit for a deposition. They couldn’t have their star further embarrassed under oath. Good for Trump for fighting back. https://t.co/73T4sdQFX1
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) December 14, 2024
“Can we get another article on how only corporate media can be trusted?” Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald asked.
ABC News has settled Trump’s lawsuit: will pay $15 million for Trump’s presidential library, $1m for his attorneys fees, and have Stephanopoulos apologize for false claims he made.
Can we get another article on how only corporate media can be trusted?https://t.co/e4fWcNupwz
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 14, 2024
“A great day for America. Journalists cannot convict someone of rape when they haven’t been convicted in a court of law. It has to stop. Trial by media is the death of journalism. George Stephanopoulos/ABC apologize to Trump, forced to pay $15 million,” former CBS News correspondent Lara Logan wrote.
A great day for America. Journalists cannot convict someone of rape when they haven’t been convicted in a court of law. It has to stop. Trial by media is the death of journalism. George Stephanopoulos/ABC apologize to Trump, forced to pay $15 million https://t.co/ctJqg8sbG8
— Lara Logan (@laralogan) December 14, 2024
The settlement should put the fake news industry on notice that there is a price to pay for their slander.
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Chris Donaldson is an ordinary American who is concerned about rampant corruption as well as the ongoing attacks on our way of life by those who have contempt for our hard-earned freedoms. A Navy veteran, he has been a frequent contributor to conservative websites and resides in Florida.
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