ABC News Settles Lawsuit with Donald Trump

(Reuters) – ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a lawsuit over comments made by anchor George Stephanopoulos regarding the civil case brought against Trump by writer E. Jean Carroll, according to court documents filed on Saturday.

The lawsuit, initiated on March 19 in U.S. District Court in Southern Florida, accused Stephanopoulos of making statements with malice and a disregard for the truth, claiming these statements were widely disseminated to third parties.

An ABC News spokesperson stated, "We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing."

The lawsuit cited a March 10 interview with U.S. Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican who has been vocal about her own experiences of rape. During this interview, Stephanopoulos remarked that Trump was found liable for rape and questioned Mace about endorsing him.

As part of the settlement, ABC News is required to publish a statement by Sunday at the bottom of a March 10 online article that accompanied the interview. The statement must 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," as specified in the court document.