ABC Caves to Trump – Settles Defamation Suit
The President-Elect seems to have kicked off his “revenge is sweet tour” with a settlement and public apology in his defamation suit against the mainstream network.
ABC News says it will pay $15 million to a “presidential foundation and museum” in a settlement reached with Trump in his defamation suit against the network and star anchor George Stephanopoulos.
The settlement, which was filed publicly over the weekend, reveals the network will also pay $1 million in Trump’s attorneys’ fees and will issue an apology.
ABC News will issue the following statement as an editor’s note on the online article at the center of the suit: “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.”
“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” an ABC News spokesperson wrote in a statement.
Trump filed the lawsuit in Florida federal court earlier this year, arguing that Stephanopoulos and ABC News defamed him when the anchor said 10 times during a contentious on-air interview with South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace in March that a jury found Trump had “raped” E. Jean Carroll.
Carroll alleged that Trump raped her in a department store in the mid-1990s and that he defamed her when he denied her claim. Trump has denied all wrongdoing toward Carroll. In 2023, a jury found that Trump “sexually abused” Carroll sufficient to hold him liable for battery, though it did not find that Carroll proved he raped her. After that verdict, Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote that just because Carroll failed to prove rape “within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’”
As part of the settlement, Stephanopoulos and ABC News also had to issue statements of “regret” as an editor’s note at the bottom of a March 10, 2024, online article about comments made earlier this year that prompted Trump to file the defamation lawsuit. The note now reads, “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.”
ABC News said the network was “pleased” to have concluded the case.
“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” an ABC News spokesperson said.
The settlement came after U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette M. Reid ordered Trump and Stephanopoulos on Friday to sit for depositions next week ahead of the Dec. 24 deadline for the defendants to file a motion for summary judgment in order to avoid a trial.
BS is correct in this except the Judge said a lot more re: Trump “digitial rape” and that is on the record in the Trump Defamation Case where he attempted, but horribly failed, at suing Carroll for the use of the word rape. He said that in NY, a penis insertion is required, but in the common sense of the word, Trump is guilty of digital rape, or close to that. It’s on the record and much tastier than the quote BS grabbed.
Given that, it’s odd that ABC settled. It’s even more strange that they settled at this point in the case — no one does that.
One can only conclude that there’s more here going on than just the facts in the case. As to what that is, who knows, but Disney is involved, Disney has suffered some downturns at the Parks, has come back from that at least in stock value, dividends will be a bit higher this year. Perhaps $15M is just good advertising. Who knows, but it’s pretty obvious that there are other factors at play.
As a young consultant in love with himself I was told “go forth and be quoted” as a way to build the business. So I did, and I am good at doing what I do. A B player telcom division from a HUGE conglomerate came to us to pre-announce a new product going live in seven days. Having been milking the trade press for awhile, I saw the opportunity and told the advance men visiting: “I can make you famous for the price of a quote.” They said sure. So, I “leaked” the announcement, with all the major news rags as a major scoop they alone could have if they published first. I still remember the advance men saying: “hey, we got hundreds of press briefings in the trunk, let’s get you more….” And publish they did, and my quote was MARVELOUS. I got them more coverage than AT&T’s Dimension PBX announcement.
Next thing I know, I get a call from the advance man, cars screaming behind him in the phone booth, saying “stop the boat, we are ruining corporates mega multi-division announcement and they want my head.” Next thing I know, I am in the owner’s office, the VP is there, and there’s talks of lawyers, lawsuits, injunctions, and more. These guys are shitting their drawers. I laugh and that does not make it better. I explain: “dudes, right now each of these rags are meeting, drinking coffee, chain smoking cigarettes, and having the time of their lives. This is what journalists live for. Not to worry, nothing is happening.” Of course I was right, until I was wrong. While the press was fine, nothing happened, corporate fired the entire management team in the division. Twenty five people. I was a mess. Talked to my Dad, was thinking of quitting and joining the monastery, and he told me: “no way it’s your fault, there was something else going on here.” Since many got better jobs, I came to agree. Still made me quit being a consultant and join AT&T to make things real. Many years later, I came out from hiding, to hit the airwaves on last time to push IP Telephony, especially over cable. Quite the global ride, but I was much more reserved and less self-promoting at that point. Did get me to four different Continents though. I can tell you about the Hotels, heh heh. At least it was Business First, those were the days.
Trump is known, as President, for destroying companies on a whim. That’s why Amazon is making big pay offs right now. Others too are “bending the knee.” It’s just good business even if a grinfuck. Trump is also known for liking this. Idiot. For when the worm turns, and it will at some point, if it hits an inflection point, these businessmen and others will turn on Trump faster than Billy Bob Thornton can cut the head off a rattler with a shovel. Hey, think that guy could play James Carvel or what. So yes, huge win for Trump, but not a huge loss for ABC, and changes little going forward.