ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos have reached a settlement with Donald Trump, according to court filings on Saturday, after the president-elect sued the network for on-air claims by Stephanopoulos, who incorrectly said during an interview earlier this year that a jury found Trump liable for raping E. Jean Carroll.
The president-elect sued the network after an anchor repeatedly claimed Trump was found liable for ... [+]
Under the agreement, ABC News will pay $15 million as a contribution to a “presidential foundation and museum” to be established by or for Trump in the future, in addition to $1 million for Trump’s attorneys’ fees, according to a filing in the Southern District of Florida.
Trump sued ABC News and Stephanopoulos in March, accusing the network and anchor of defaming him after Stephanopoulos said during an on-air interview with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., that Trump was found “liable for rape” at least 10 times (a New York jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse).
In a note attached to the filing, ABC News and Stephanopoulos—who agreed to apologize to Trump as part of the settlement—say they “regret statements” made about Trump during the interview.
A settlement allows Stephanopoulos and Trump to avoid sitting for court-order depositions scheduled for next week.
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Trump filed his lawsuit against ABC News and Stephanopoulos and claimed the network broadcast statements by the anchor that were “false, intentional, malicious and designed to cause harm,” filings say. A judge refused to dismiss the case in July, reportedly saying the case would focus on whether it was “substantially true” a jury found Trump liable for rape, despite the jury’s verdict “expressly finding” he was not liable for rape. Carroll alleged that Trump raped her in the mid-1990s, first accusing the then-president in 2019 before filing an assault claim in 2022. Trump denied Carroll’s claims, at one point saying she was “not my type,” which Carroll later said contributed to her defamation. Following a two-week trial, New York jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse but unanimously rejected Carroll’s claim that he raped her. She was awarded $2 million in damages for sexual abuse and about $3 million for defamation. Trump denounced the verdict, saying it was a “continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.”