CNN and Nicholas Sandmann settled the Kentucky teenager’s libel lawsuit against the network.
Sandmann sued CNN last March for $275 million, alleging that four broadcasts and nine articles defamed him and “conveyed to its viewers and readers that Nicholas was the face of an unruly hate mob of hundreds of white racist high school students who physically assaulted, harassed, and taunted two different minority groups engaged in peaceful demonstrations, preaching, song, and prayer.”
A spokesperson for CNN confirmed to iMediaEthics the fact of the settlement but declined to comment further. iMediaEthics has written to Sandmann’s attorney.
The news came from Kentucky Fox-affiliate Fox 19, which reported the settlement but noted, “The amount of the settlement was not made public during a hearing at the federal courthouse in Covington, Kentucky.”
Sandmann is also suing NBC Universal and the Washington Post.
Sandmann’s lawsuits against the media and reporting on the Lincoln Memorial Incident were featured in iMediaEthics’s Top Media Ethics Issues of 2019.
Hat Tip: Mediaite