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UPDATE: CNN reached a settlement with a security consultant this afternoon, hours after a jury found the network liable for defamation and awarded him $5 million.
Judge William Henry announced the settlement as jurors were considering the second phase of the trial, on how much in punitive damages to award Zachary Young, a Navy veteran who filed the lawsuit last year.
A CNN spokesperson said, “We remain proud of our journalists and are 100% committed to strong, fearless and fair-minded reporting at CNN, though we will of course take what useful lessons we can from this case.”
PREVIOUSLY: A Florida jury today found CNN liable for defaming a security consultant featured in a 2021 report on the exorbitant fees being demanded on the black market to evacuate Afghans during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal.
The jury also awarded $5 million in damages. CNN also was found liable for punitive damages, with an amount to be determined in the next phase of the trial.
Zachary Young, a Navy veteran, sued the network following a report in 2021, claiming that the segment made it appear as though he was involved in illicit activities.
The jury awarded $4 million in damages related to Young’s loss of earning potential and another $1 million for pain and suffering, mental anguish, inconvenience and injury to reputation.
A CNN spokesperson declined comment.
CNN aired the story from Alexander Marquardt on November 11, 2021, and re-aired three times. Links to the segments also were posted on social media, and a digital article was posted on November 13.
In one instance, Young’s image appeared on screen with the chyron, “Afghans trying to flee Taliban face black markets, exorbitant fees, no guarantee of safety or success.”
Judge William Henry had left it up to the jury to decide whether the use of the term “black market” meant illegal or criminal activity. The deliberations started shortly before 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.
During the trial, Marquardt defended the piece, as did other CNN staffers who worked on the segment. They said that they never accused Young of any crime, and used his own words in the piece. The term “black market” was not in the story itself, but appeared on the chyron, but Marquardt said that he supported the use of that term as well.
After the piece ran and Young began a legal challenge, CNN aired an apology. In a segment on The Lead with Jake Tapper on March 25, 2022, the anchor told viewers that “the use of the term ‘black market’ in the story was in error. The story included reporting on Zachary Young, a private operator who had been contacted by family members of Afghans trying to flee the country. We didn’t mean to suggest that Mr. Young participated in the black market. We regret the error and to Mr. Young, we apologize.”
But in his closing argument, Young’s attorney, Devin “Velvel” Freedman told jurors that the network’s on air apology “was a lie.”
“Every single CNN employee got up on this stand and told you that they thought ‘black market’ was accurate,” he said. “Each of them paraded a uniform lie that they thought to term ‘black market’ meant an unregulated market. Each of them conveniently told you that they understood the word to mean the opposite of every single dictionary.”
He argued that the story cast Young as an illicit profiteer, when in fact he didn’t take money from Afghans and worked with corporations and non profits to fund evacuations.
Freedman told jurors that the story ruined Young’s career and reputation. “He can’t function anymore, and they did it. You saw him break down on the stand. We talked about the relationship with his wife, his inability to be intimate with her, and in speaking out loud for the first time, that he’s just not the same man that she married.”
“No man or woman should have to endure the pain, and certainly not because they want clicks and views.”
But CNN’s attorney, David Axelrod, told jurors they were being instructed to look at the words in context. “It’s the wild, wild west. Some people were taken out and killed. People were using safe houses. People were flying under the radar. People were avoiding the Taliban. You couldn’t just go to the airport. ‘Black market’ was a perfect way to describe that. That’s what it was used for, and that’s the way it was understood.”
He also added, “If the black market was used to talk about the secondary market for Taylor Swift tickets, would anybody say that was criminal?”
Axelrod, who is no relation to the political commentator, said that the report was factual and used Young’s own words, as he asked for $14,500 per evacuee. Axelrod also noted that there was a dearth of evidence to support Young’s claims or lost work and reputation.
Jurors also were shown text messages during the trial give them a glimpse of the newsgathering process. In one, written about 10 days before the story ran, from Marquardt wrote to another CNN staffer, “We gonna nail this Zachary Young motherf*cker.”
Young’s legal team has tried to make the case that the text and others were evidence of malice, but Axelrod argued that the Marquardt and others involved in reporting the story showed restraint. During the trial, Marquardt said that they found that Young told one woman to “f-off” and told another seeking to get someone out of the country “to run for the border and see how far they get.” But those comments weren’t included in the finished story.
The trial, Axelrod told the jurors, was “about the truth of this case. It’s not about sending a message.”
