ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos have reached a settlement in a defamation suit brought by President-elect Donald Trump, which requires the network to apologize, contribute $15 million to a “Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plaintiff,” and pay Trump’s legal team $1 million.
Defendants also must say they “regret” the defamatory comments, which Stephanopoulos made on-air in March during a broadcast with South Carolina representative Nancy Mace, that spurred Trump’s lawsuit. During the broadcast, the news anchor asked Mace why she supported Trump, who he said was found liable in Manhattan for raping E. Jean Carroll.
“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 to Mace, herself a victim of sexual assault, during the broadcast. “How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with [your] testimony?”
Although a federal jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll at a department store in 1996, it did not find Trump liable for rape. Stephanopoulos repeated his false claim multiple times on air.
“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 defendants were ordered to publish in an editor’s note.
An ABC News spokeswoman told Fox News that the network was “pleased” to have reached a settlement.
“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” the spokeswoman said.
Trump has also taken CBS News to court, and is requesting $10 billion in damages after the network engaged in “deceptive conduct” to interfere in the presidential election during an October interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
“President Trump will continue to hold those who have committed, and are committing wrongdoings, accountable for blatantly false and dishonest reporting, which serves no public interest and only seeks to interfere in our elections on behalf of political partisans,” Trump’s future White House communications director Steven Cheung said of the president-elect’s court cases.