George Stephanopoulos And ABC Agree To Apologize To Trump, Pay $15M In Defamation Case Settlement

George Stephanopoulos with Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey discuss “Build The Life You Want” at The 92nd Street Y, New York on September 12, 2023 in New York City.

ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos has reached a settlement with President-elect Donald Trump and agreed to pay him $15 million in a defamation lawsuit. 

On Saturday, ABC News reached a settlement involving a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump. As part of the agreement, the network will contribute $15 million to a charitable foundation and museum to be established by or for Trump, similar to those created by past U.S. Presidents. Additionally, ABC News will pay $1 million to cover Trump’s attorney fees.

The settlement also required ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos to issue a statement of regret. An editor’s note was added to a March 10^th, 2024, online article, clarifying comments made during an interview on This Week. 

“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,” the note states.

ABC News stated that they were “pleased” to have concluded the case.

“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” an ABC News spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Trump sued Stephanopoulos for defamation after he claimed that Trump was found “liable for rape” in a civil case during a contentious interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) last March.

After showing a video of Mace discussing being a victim of rape, Stephanopoulos asked her, “How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?”

“You’ve endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape,” Stephanopoulos said, alluding to the legal victory by Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll. 

Stephanopoulos repeated that claim ten times during his spat with Mace, despite the fact that a jury actually determined Trump was liable for “sexual abuse,” which has a distinct definition under New York law.

After the federal jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse but not rape, Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in a subsequent ruling that just because Carroll failed to prove rape “within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove thatTrump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.'”

Stephanopoulos was initially the defiant in the lawsuit, stating tht he wouldn’t be “cowed out of doing my job because of a threat.”

“Trump sued me because I used the word ‘rape,’ even though a judge said that’s in fact what did happen. We filed a motion to dismiss,” Stephanopoulos said.

The settlement came after U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette M. Reid ordered Trump and Stephanopoulos to appear for depositions next week, ahead of the December 24^th deadline for the defendants to file a motion for summary judgment to avoid a trial.

The settlement with ABC was filed in the Southern District of Florida Federal Court, where both parties signed and accepted the terms.

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