EBN- ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit filed against it by US President-elect Donald Trump.
The New York Times said the deal was a major concession by the major media corporation, and a rare victory for a media-hostile politician whose previous attempts to sue the media have usually ended in defeat.
Under the terms of the settlement, which was disclosed Saturday, the network will donate $15 million to the Trump Foundation and his future presidential museum.
The network and its prominent anchor George Stephanopoulos issued a statement saying they regretted the comments about Trump, which came during a television interview in March.
ABC News, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company, will pay Trump an additional $1 million in legal fees.
The New York Times said the result was an unusual victory for Trump, who has repeatedly sued the media for defamation but has also lost repeatedly, including his lawsuits against CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post.
The New York Times quoted several media law experts as saying that ABC News could have continued the fight, given the high standards that courts require of public figures like Trump to prove defamation. A plaintiff must prove not only that the media outlet published false information, but that it did so with knowledge that the information was false or with serious doubts about its accuracy.
Ronnell Anderson Jones, a law professor at the University of Utah, said major media outlets have long been skeptical of settlements in defamation lawsuits brought by public officials and figures, both because they fear a dangerous pattern of repeating the act and because they have great weight under the first amendement.
