ABC News and George Stephanopoulos Apologize To Trump, Agree to Shell Out $15M in Defamation Suit
George Stephanopoulos and ABC News issued an apology to President-elect Donald Trump and agreed to pay the Trump presidential library $15 million to settle a defamation suit over the “rape” remark made on air by the anchor about Trump back in March.
Trump sued over statements the ABC host made in March of this year as Mediaite previously reported:
Former President Donald Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos over a viral interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) on the subject of Trump’s sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll.
According to an agreement to end the suit first obtained by Fox News and confirmed to Mediaite by ABC, the network said:
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 network also agreed to pay him $15 million. Examples of statements made on the air by Stephanopoulos during the Mace interview include:
“How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?”
“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.”
Trump was found civilly liable for sexual abuse, not rape, last year and ordered to pay Carroll millions of dollars.
BC News spokesperson told Mediaite, “We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing.”
Trump’s lawsuit partially read:
This is an action arising from Defendants’ transmission and publication of intentionally false and defamatory statements made to numerous third parties about Plaintiff President Donald J. Trump. More specifically, and as set forth in greater detail below, on Sunday, March 10, 2024, Defendant George Stephanopoulos, during the airing of his weekly television show, This Week With George Stephanopoulos, falsely stated on several occasions that Plaintiff had been found liable by multiple juries for the rape of Ms. E. Jean Carroll.
These statements were and remain false, and were made by Defendant Stephanopoulos with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth given that Defendant Stephanopoulos knows that these statements are patently and demonstrably false. Indeed, the jury expressly found that Plaintiff did not commit rape and, as demonstrated below, Defendant George Stephanopoulos was aware of the jury’s finding in this regard yet still falsely stated otherwise.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
