CNN found liable for $5 million in defamation trial against US Navy veteran over Afghanistan report

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Friday 17 January 2025 13:54 EST


A Florida jury found CNN liable on Friday in a high-stakes defamation trial against U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young, who alleged that the network maligned him as an “illegal profiteer” with a report on Afghan evacuees being charged thousands of dollars to flee the country following the U.S. military withdrawal.

Following two days of deliberations, the jury ruled that CNN must pay Young $4 million in financial damages and $1 million for emotional damage, adding that Young is also owed punitive damages. The trial is now heading into a second phase to determine the amount of punitive damages Young should receive from the network.

A CNN spokesperson told The Independent that the network would withhold comment until the final and complete verdict was handed down.

The verdict comes weeks after ABC News paid $15 million to Donald Trump’s presidential library fund and another million dollars to his legal team to settle the president-elect’s defamation lawsuit against the network – a move that First Amendment experts warned could have a “chilling effect” on the free press.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/cnn-defamation-trial-verdict-b2681743.html

[cadoman]

1. the damage to their rep is greater than the $5 million

Should have just corrected the articles and settled.

[SouthBayDem]

2. They have.

CNN reached a legal settlement with a security contractor Friday after a Florida jury found the network had defamed him by suggesting he was charging "exorbitant prices" to evacuate people from Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal in August 2021.

Details of the settlement have not been disclosed. But jurors found the network should pay $5 million to U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young for lost finances and suffering, and said he was eligible for more in punitive damages. The final figure could have been far higher.

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/17/nx-s1-5251209/cnn-defamation-afghanistan-evacuations-black-market

[iemanja]

3. Wow, that article is something else

They have emails with the CNN correspondent calling Young a "shit bag," someone they wanted to "punch in the face." No wonder they lost.