It was shocking news earlier this week: ABC News had agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit that had been filed by Donald Trump. Trump, of course, sues people frequently, including news organizations. But those organizations rarely agree to settle, especially not at this early stage of the case.
The New York Times reports that Disney executives agreed to the $16 million settlement with Donald Trump because they feared a Florida jury, retribution from Trump, and the Supreme Court overturning landmark First Amendment law. pic.twitter.com/9xRex6XqRO
— Jacob Shamsian ⚖️ (@JayShams) December 18, 2024
The lawsuit arose from an ABC News segment in March, when anchor George Stephanopoulos was interviewing Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), and stated repeatedly that Trump had been found to have “raped” E. Jean Carroll. A jury found that Trump had “sexually abused” Carroll, and also defamed her. The jury did not find that Trump had “raped” her, which was a separate question in Carroll’s lawsuit.
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The settlement entails ABC agreeing to pay $15 million to Trump’s foundation. This has led to worries both within the Disney-owned ABC News, and in other news organizations about whether their bosses will defend their reporting.
“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 said in a statement after the settlement. “We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing.”
Media organizations typically defend themselves against that type of lawsuit, which has First Amendment implications.
The New York Times this week reported on why Disney and ABC agreed to settle the case.
Sources: Disney executives worried about ABC’s Trump case and that the company could risk damaging press protections for others, as well as harming its brand (@brooksbarnesnyt / New York Times)https://t.co/aWIYmK40p5https://t.co/IzNIIrCErv
— Mediagazer (@mediagazer) December 18, 2024
Disney, per the report, “determined that they had a flawed case — and that the company could risk damaging press protections for everyone by continuing to fight, as well as hurt the Disney brand.” The decision was also driven, the newspaper said, by an order from a judge, this summer, in rejecting Disney’s bid to dismiss the case.
“A reasonable jury could interpret Stephanopoulos’s statements as defamatory,” Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga wrote in that decision, and then added an emphasis in italics. “Stephanopoulos stated ten times that a jury — or juries — had found plaintiff liable for rape.”
The court, last week, rejected further efforts to dismiss the case, and demanded Disney turn over “all remaining documents.”
Disney’s general counsel, per the Times report, had recommended settling.
In addition, per the reporting, “the company was concerned that a jury in Florida — a deep-red state that Mr. Trump carried by 13 points in the election last month — would side with the president-elect and potentially award him a sizable sum exceeding what it would cost to settle.” The infamous case involving Hulk Hogan suing Gawker, with backing from Peter Thiel, had also been decided in Florida, and both Hogan and Thiel are prominent supports of Trump today.
It also follows Disney’s long and bruising fight with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in which DeSantis sought to remove a special protective district in Orlando. The company “wants its family-friendly movies, television shows and theme park rides to appeal to people of all political persuasions.”
There were also worries that an appeals process could eventually lead to the U.S. Supreme Court and, in a worst-case scenario, would lead to a case that could overturn New York Times v. Sullivan, the decision from the 1960s that grants media organzations certain protections from lawsuits by public officials.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
