ABC News will pay $15 million to the US president-elect’s future museum to settle a defamation lawsuit.
To resolve a defamation lawsuit filed by US President-elect Donald Trump, ABC News has agreed to a $15 million settlement. The suit followed anchor George Stephanopoulos’ on-air statement that Trump was found liable for raping advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.
The settlement, disclosed Saturday, involves a $10 million payment to a Trump-established “presidential foundation and museum,” along with $1 million for Trump’s legal fees.
ABC News also issued an online editor’s note expressing regret for statements made about President Trump and acknowledging Stephanopoulos’ role in the matter.
“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” ABC stated.
The legal action arose from a March 10, 2024, segment of ABC News’ ‘This Week.’ During an interview, Stephanopoulos asserted that “Donald Trump has been found liable for rape by a jury.”
A Manhattan jury in May 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, awarding her $5 million. A subsequent January 2024 jury verdict ordered Trump to pay Carroll an additional $83.3 million in damages. Judge Lewis Kaplan, in both cases, clarified that the verdicts did not establish Trump’s guilt of rape under a specific provision of New York’s Penal Law, according to the Associated Press.
Trump’s countersuit against Carroll was dismissed in August 2023.
Carroll alleges Trump assaulted her at a New York department store in the mid-1990s. Trump denies the allegations, calling them a “hoax and a lie” and part of a politically motivated effort to undermine his 2024 presidential campaign. He has also repeatedly accused “the lying media” of spreading misinformation about him.