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Headline Roundup December 15th, 2024

ABC News to Pay Trump $15 Million Defamation Settlement

Summary from the AllSides News Team

ABC News (Lean Left bias) agreed to settle a defamation suit from President-elect Donald Trump by paying $15 million and issuing a public apology.

The Details: The suit was filed by Trump in relation to comments ABC’s TV host George Stephanopoulos made about him during an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) on March 10, 2024. ABC will also pay $1 million in attorney fees for Trump. The settlement keeps the parties from having to appear for court-ordered depositions this week and future court dates.

For Context: In late October, Trump also filed a $10 billion suit against CBS News (Lean Left bias) for “deceptive conduct” during a 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. In September, Trump debated Harris on ABC News. A brief AllSides Analysis found debate moderators showed several forms of bias in the debate that skewed in favor of Harris.

How the Media Covered It: Both CNN (Lean Left bias) and Fox News (Right bias) included context on Trump’s suit against CBS, but framed it differently. CNN wrote, “Trump has a history of filing lawsuits against the news media,” whereas Fox did not offer this context. Fox News wrote that the settlement “comes after a string of legal victories for Trump and his legal team, coordinated by senior legal adviser Boris Epshteyn.”

Featured Coverage of this Story

From the Right
George Stephanopoulos and ABC apologize to Trump, are forced to pay $15 million to settle defamation suit
George Stephanopoulos and ABC apologize to Trump, are forced to pay $15 million to settle defamation suit

Getty Images

News

ABC News and its top anchor George Stephanopoulos have reached a settlement with Donald Trump in his defamation suit, which will result in the news network paying the president-elect $15 million. 

The settlement was publicly filed on Saturday, revealing that the two parties have come to an agreement and avoided a costly trial. According to the settlement, ABC News will pay $15 million as a charitable contribution to a "Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plaintiff, as Presidents of the United States of America have established in the...

Open on Fox News Digital
From the Center
ABC settles Trump’s defamation suit for $15M
News

ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos agreed to settle a defamation suit brought by President-elect Trump by issuing a public apology and providing $15 million to fund Trump’s future presidential library, according to court documents filed Saturday. 

The settlement enables both the anchor and Trump to avoid sitting for court-ordered depositions next week. 

Trump sued the network and the anchor in March after Stephanopoulos repeatedly said during a “This Week” interview that a jury found Trump “liable for rape” in a lawsuit brought by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. The jury had found Trump liable for...

Open on The Hill
From the Left
ABC News settles defamation suit with Trump for $15 million
News

ABC News will pay $15 million to a “presidential foundation and museum” in a settlement reached with President-elect Donald Trump in his defamation suit against the network and anchor George Stephanopoulos.

The settlement, which was filed publicly Saturday, 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...

Open on CNN Digital

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