ABC News has agreed to pay US President-elect Donald Trump $15m (£12m) to settle a defamation lawsuit after the popular host falsely said he had been found guilty of “must responsible for the crime of rape”.
George Stephanopoulos repeatedly made these claims in an interview on March 10 of this year while challenging a congresswoman about her support for Trump.
Jury in civil case determined last year Trump is responsible for “sexual abuse,” which is specifically defined under New York law.
As part of Saturday’s settlement, first reported by Fox News Digital, ABC will also publish a statement expressing “regret” over Stephanopoulos’ statements.
Under the settlement, ABC News will pay $15 million as a charitable contribution to “a Presidential Foundation and museum established by or for Plaintiffs, as previously established by Presidents of the United States.” “.
The network also agreed to pay $1 million for Trump’s legal fees.
Under the settlement, the network will post an editor’s note at the end of the March 10, 2024, online article about the story.
It will say: “ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J Trump made during George Stephanopoulos’ interview with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s This Week on March 10 year 2024.”
An ABC News spokesperson said in a statement that the company is “pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit in accordance with the terms of the court filing.”
In 2023, a New York civil court found Trump sexually abused E Jean Carroll in a department store dressing room in 1996. He was also convicted of defaming the magazine columnist .
Judge Lewis Kaplan said the jury’s conclusion was that Carroll failed to prove that Trump raped her “within the narrow, technical meaning of a particular section of the New York Penal Code.”
Judge Kaplan noted that the definition of rape is “much narrower” than how rape is defined in modern common parlance, in some dictionaries and criminal statutes elsewhere.
In a separate case, also presided over by the same judge, a jury ordered Mr. Trump to pay $83.3 million to Ms. Carroll for additional defamation claims.
During a March 10 broadcast, Stephanopoulos asked South Carolina Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace how she could endorse Trump.
The presenter incorrectly said that “judges and two separate juries have found him responsible for rape”.
Stephanopoulos repeated this statement 10 times during the broadcast.
Ahead of the ruling, a federal judge ordered Trump and Stephanopoulos to give evidence under oath at depositions next week.
Trump also sued CBS, the BBC’s US broadcast partner, for “fraudulent conduct” in his interview with Kamala Harris.
In 2023, a judge threw out his defamation suit against CNN, in which he accused the network of likening him to Adolf Hitler.
He also filed lawsuits against the New York Times and the Washington Post that were dismissed.
