ABC News to Pay $15 Million and Apologize to Settle Defamation Lawsuit Filed By Donald Trump

Claire Franken

14 December 2024 at 5:43 pm·2-min read

ABC News has agreed to apologize and pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President-elect Donald Trump for comments made on air by George Stephanopoulos in March.

The settlement was filed on Saturday and signed by Trump, Stephanopoulos and ABC News’ station chief Debra OConnell. Fox News Digital was the first to report the news.

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According to the signed document, ABC News and Stephanopoulos will pay the $15 million 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 past.” The payment must be made within 10 days, and placed in escrow until such an establishment has been formed. ABC and Stephanopoulos will pay an additional $1 million in fees for Trump’s attorneys.

“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 told our sister site The Hollywood Reporter.

Trump filed the lawsuit after Stephanopoulos said the former president was found “liable for rape” in an on-air interview with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s News Week in March. Stephanopoulos was referencing E. Jean Carroll’s civil case against Trump in which a federal jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer. He was not found liable of rape.

In addition to the financial terms, ABC News and Stephanopoulos are required to post a public apology on the article accompanying the interview. The note is to read: “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.”

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