ABC News shelled out $16 million to settle a lawsuit after longtime anchor George Stephanopoulos made a demonstrably false statement on the air about President-elect Donald Trump, saying that he had been held “liable for rape.” And according to a new report from the New York Post, the former Democratic strategist was repeatedly warned not to use the word “rape” before the segment aired.
Stephanopoulos was hosting the network’s flagship Sunday morning political show “This Week” – and speaking to guest Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) — when he challenged Mace to defend Trump despite the verdict in the E. Jean Carroll case, in which Trump was found liable for sexual abuse but not rape.
According to the Post’s report, the show’s executive producer spoke to Stephanopoulos before the show went live.
“‘This Week’ producer said, ‘Don’t use the word rape’ before the segment started. The EP [executive producer] said it so many times,” the Post quoted a “network source” as saying.
Another source reportedly confirmed the warning in a text message to the Post, saying that Stephanopoulos had been instructed “not to say rape.”
Stephanopoulos did so anyway — and more than once — and the clip went viral in part because he was speaking to Mace, who has said that she is also a sexual assault survivor. Trump’s team filed suit, but Stephanopoulos was doubling down days later during an appearance on “The Late Show” with
“I’m not going to be cowed out of doing my job because of the threat,” he said, referencing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was settled on Saturday with just days to go before depositions were set to begin. ABC agreed, according to that settlement, to pay $15 million to a “Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for [Trump], as Presidents of the United States of America have established in the past” in addition to $1 million to cover Trump’s attorney fees.
In addition to the payout, Stephanopoulos was instructed to apologize — and, according to another report from the Post, was “apoplectic” at the thought. Still, the anchor and the network released a joint statement:
“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.”
Behind the scenes, the Post reported, ABC staffers are referring to the “humiliated” anchor as “Furious George” and questioning the wisdom of allowing him to continue to cover a second Trump administration: “Everyone seems to be asking that question except ABC brass.”
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