BAY COUNTY, Fla. (Court TV) — A Florida jury has found CNN guilty of libeling a Navy veteran who claimed the network destroyed his reputation.
Zachary Young said CNN rendered him “permanently unemployable” when they ran a report that falsely accused him of making money off of helping desperate people flee Afghanistan.
A photo of Zachary Young and his dog is shown in court Jan. 7, 2025 during his defamation case against CNN. (Court TV)
The segment claimed that Young, who worked as a security consultant, offered Afghans so-called “black market evacuations” on Aug. 30, 2021 — the day the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan.
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Young was the first witness to take the stand in the defamation suit filed by him and his security consulting partner, the Boca Raton, Fla.-based Nemex Enterprises.
The CNN report by Alexander Marquardt aired on Nov. 11, 2021, on “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” It claimed contractors were charging exorbitant sums of money to evacuate Afghans. Young claims the network smeared his name when it called him an “illegal profiteer.” He argued that the segment was filled with lies published for sensationalism. Days later, it was posted on CNN.com and CNN’s Facebook page.
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CNN issued an on-air apology in March 2022, but a judge ruled that the apology was inadequate. The network opted, however, to stand by its report rather than settle with Young out of court.
On direct examination, Young described the devastation of being labeled a criminal as soon as CNN associated his name with the term “black market.”
On Jan. 17, a jury found CNN guilty of defaming Young and awarded him $5 million in damages, reported the Associated Press. A second phase of the trial, to award punitive damages, was underway Friday afternoon before Circuit Court Judge William S. Henry interrupted proceedings to announce a settlement. Terms were not disclosed.
