ABC News will pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by former President Donald Trump, the result of mistaken remarks anchor George Stephanopoulos uttered in an interview on ABC’s This Week. The outcome reflects the increasingly high stakes attached to reporting about public figures in a politically fraught environment. The libel lawsuit was over comments that Stephanopoulos made on March 10, 2024 in an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace. During the broadcast of the interview, Stephanopoulos falsely stated that Trump was found liable for rape in the high-profile E. Jean Carroll civil case. Actually, the jury’s verdict ultimately docketed on May 10, 2022 found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation – not rape.
The difference, as pointed out by the presiding judge, underlined the particular legal definition of rape in New York and the narrower findings by the jury.
Trump’s lawyers filed a lawsuit immediately after the claim, stating that the lie affected the former president’s good name and created adverse views in the public regarding the 2024 presidential elections. Stephanopoulos‘ continued utterances of the same mistake on air gave sufficient grounds for filing the suit, increasing tensions between Trump and ABC News during election time.
Under the terms of the settlement, ABC News agreed to route $15 million to Trump’s proposed presidential library and pay an additional $1 million for the legal fees of his lawyers. The monetary settlement isn’t the only move the news station has taken over this; ABC News, along with George Stephanopoulos, issued statements in which they apologized publicly and claimed their mistake by and expressed their regret over the mistakes of misstatements during his interview. An editor’s note has also been added to the online story associated with the broadcast, which contains the following: “ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump during an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s This Week on March 10, 2024.”
The settlement has elicited many kinds of reactions from different stakeholders. Legally, analysts have divided opinions on the matter, with some even arguing that ABC News should have fought the case more vigorously.
A law professor at the University of Utah, said most news outlets settle such cases because many defamation claims against public figures are hard to prove within the legal threshold. Alternatively, one might read between the lines of the settlement decision as reflecting overall concerns about the state of jury attitudes and the economics in modern media.
Others, meanwhile, have perceived this settlement in the context of a hyper-scrutinized climate and polarized news and opinion and cautionary tale. The verdict revives calls on how the media will be held to account-mostly when covering contentious public figures like Trump. Critics say these sorts of agreements have the risk of emboldening future lawsuits against news outlets and chilling investigative reporting.
Team Trump hailed the result as a validation of their complaint. “This settlement is a major win,” said a Trump spokesperson. “It emphasizes holding the media accountable when reporting lies.”
Meanwhile, Stephanopoulos has also drawn fire for his part in the controversy. He publicly apologized for what happened, but at the same time defended his integrity as a journalist during an appearance in May on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “Unfortunately, it now comes with the territory,” Stephanopoulos said. “But I’m not going to be cowed out of doing my job because of the threat of Donald Trump.”
It’s the sort of settlement that points to the increasing legal financial risk facing every media in the world over some sort of reporting considered political.
Legal experts consider this case typical for modern conditions: current public attitudes toward media “are much worse now so that this can lead fewer juries prioritizing press freedoms against vindicating the reputation of complainants.
The decision by ABC News to settle, rather than continuing to litigate, may be a harbinger of how large news organizations will approach similar situations in the future. Defamation suits against public figures such as Trump have long been hard to win because of First Amendment protections, but financial and reputational risks of protracted legal battles are prompting some organizations to reconsider their approach.
But it does come at a time when hostilities between Trump’s camp and ABC News have escalated. During the 2024 campaign, Trump lambasted the network for alleged bias, including threats to take regulatory actions. Perhaps this lawsuit settlement may herald a turn in their bruising relationship. Recent meetings between executives from ABC News and the transition team of Trump have caused a stir about possible detente, though both parties are low-key about the discussions.
