BOOM: CNN found liable for defaming U.S. Navy veteran, slapped with huge penalty

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From the Wall Street Journal: A Florida jury on Friday found CNN liable for defaming a U.S. Navy veteran involved in private evacuation work in Afghanistan, a blow to the network’s reputation that also leaves it on the hook for potentially tens of millions of dollars in punitive damages.

The six-person jury awarded at least $5 million in damages to Zachary Young, the plaintiff who accused CNN of falsely painting him as a criminal profiteer who exploited the misery of Afghans trying to escape Taliban rule in 2021.

The jury also said Young could recover a potentially larger amount of punitive damages and will now decide how much that should be.

The case—the latest in a spate of high-profile defamation lawsuits against major media organizations—centered on a five-minute segment that CNN aired in November 2021 in the wake of the U.S.’s chaotic withdrawal.

The defamation case is over a segment which aired on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” and was narrated by its chief national security correspondent, Alex Marquardt.

Young said he was only given about two hours notice that the segment was airing, and warned CNN that their story was inaccurate.

The WSJ further explains:

Young’s lawsuit, brought in June 2022, claimed that CNN made it seem like he was illegally preying on Afghans hunted by the Taliban. He said CNN didn’t make clear that his clients were nonprofits and corporations, including Bloomberg and Audible, and that his prices reflected complex evacuation logistics.

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