PANAMA CITY, Fla. – US Navy veteran Zachary Young is celebrating the “vindication” he received after a jury found CNN defamed him, ending an intense two-week court battle.
“I’m glad it’s over,” Young said Fox News Digital in the interview. “I feel really, really, really good.”
After more than eight hours of deliberation, the six-judge jury decided Young should be awarded $4 million in lost earnings, $1 million in personal damages such as pain and suffering and said punitive damages were warranted against CNN. But while the second phase of the trial was underway, lawyers for both Young and CNN said 14th Circuit Court Judge William S. Henry they had reached a settlement.
“It’s been a long three years and to get the outcome we wanted, which is a public vindication, is an amazing feeling. And I’m glad it’s over and we don’t have to spend more years and time arguing about the meaning of words,” Young said. .
JURY FINDS CNN LIBEL AGAINST NAVY VETERAN, PUNITIVE DAMAGES SETTLEMENT ACHIEVED
U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young spoke to Fox News Digital following his defamation victory against CNN. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
The amount of the settlement was not disclosed, but it came after an expert said $150 million was a fair amount to punish CNN.
After a years-long legal battle with CNN, Young tells Fox News Digital that he has “no animosity” toward the network.
I think this was a good outcome for both of us, Young said. “Now I can move on with my life, and for a long time I couldn’t even imagine what that would look like or feel like. I still kind of wonder what it’s going to feel like when the dust settles, but as far as hostility toward CNN, I don’t have one at all.”
“I hope they learn something from this experience,” he continued. “I hope they take this as an opportunity to look in the mirror and realize that, you know, there’s room for change and improvement, and if that’s the result that CNN has and maybe others in the media can see that as something that’s positive .”
CNN’S DEFAMATION TRIAL: CLOSING ARGUMENTS AS JURY BEGINS TO CONSIDER CLAIM AGAINST NETWORK
CNN settled its defamation suit against Young after a jury found the network defamed him. (John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Vel Freedman, Young’s lead attorney in the defamation suit against CNN, also praised the legal victory.
“We were able to clear Zak’s name, get a verdict and then settle so he could avoid lengthy appeals and get on with his life,” Freedman told Fox News Digital. “So as a lawyer, that’s exactly what you want to do.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a CNN spokesperson said: “We remain proud of our reporters and are 100% committed to strong, fearless and fair reporting on CNN, although we will of course draw useful lessons from this case.” ”
Young accused CNN of defaming him after it aired graphics linking him to “black markets” during a segment that first aired on “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” (CNN/Screenshot)
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Young accused CNN of defaming him by suggesting he made illegal money helping people flee Afghanistan on the “black market” during Biden administration military withdrawal from the country in 2021. Young believed CNN “destroyed his reputation and business” by branding him an illegal profiteer who exploited “desperate Afghans” during a November 2021 segment.
Young’s legal team obtained CNN’s damning internal memos through disclosures that repeatedly show staff expressing open hostility toward the Navy veteran. Among those presented to the jury was one who called him a “s—bag” and an “a–hole” and said he had a “punchable face.”
It was also found that Alex Marquardta CNN correspondent reporting on air, told a colleague “we’re going to catch this Zachary Young mf—er,” a message that was often quoted during the trial.
Fox News’ Brian Flood and Annie McCuen contributed to this report.
