Photo: Alamy
ABC News host George Stephanopoulos has deleted his X account after his network’s $15 settlement with President Donald Trump.
The host’s claim that Trump was “found liable for rape” led to a lawsuit recently settled between the parties.
“According to the settlement, ABC News will pay $15 million as a charitable contribution to a ‘Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plaintiff, as Presidents of the United States of America have established in the past.’ Additionally, the network will pay $1 million in Trump’s attorney fees,” Fox News reported.
“Stephanopoulos and ABC News also had to issue statements of “regret” as an editor’s note at the bottom of a March 10, 2024, online article, about comments made earlier this year that prompted Trump to file the defamation lawsuit,” it added.
Stephanopoulos did not mention the settlement during his weekend show nor did he mention his deleted X account.
ABC News provided only a brief response to the media, noting, “We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing.”
The lawsuit, filed on March 19 in the U.S. District Court for Southern Florida, alleges that Stephanopoulos made the statements with malice and a reckless disregard for the truth. It claims the statements were widely shared with third parties and repeatedly circulated.
The complaint references a March 10 interview with Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican who has publicly discussed being raped as a teenager. During the interview, Stephanopoulos asserted that Trump had been found liable for rape and questioned how Mace could support the candidate.
According to Fox, Trump’s lawyers noted in the lawsuit that Stephanopoulos’ repetitious statements were “demonstrably false,” RSBN previously reported. They emphasized that a New York jury “expressly found” that the president did not rape Carroll.
Trump’s attorneys further argued, “Since making such false, malicious, and defamatory statements, many news and press outlets have continued to quote Stephanopoulos by wrongfully broadcasting that Plaintiff was found liable for rape.”