The fiasco over at Disney-owned ABC News just keeps getting worse as new damning details keep emerging after the entertainment giant settled Donald Trump’s defamation suit for a cool $15 million (plus $1 more mil for attorney’s fees).
Trump sued George Stephanopoulos and ABC in March after the anchor repeatedly claimed that the president-elect had been found “liable for rape” in the E. Jean Carroll case, despite the fact that it was untrue.
Now it gets worse for Stephanopoulos as a new report alleges that he was explicitly told by his producer not to use the “r” word:
George Stephanopoulos was repeatedly told by his executive producer not to “use the word ‘rape’” before going on the air to discuss Donald Trump but the ABC News anchor ignored the warning — a decision that cost the network $16 million, The Post has learned.
Parent company Disney’s capitulation last week in the defamation lawsuit by Trump against ABC News and Stephanopoulos shocked media and legal experts, but the damning revelation could help explain why Mouse House CEO Bob Iger signed off on the settlement so quickly…
“‘This Week’ producer said ‘don’t use the word rape’ before the segment started,” a network source told The Post. “The EP [executive producer] said it so many times.”
Assuming that’s true, Disney’s chances of prevailing in Trump’s lawsuit would have been compromised, which is potentially one reason why CEO Bob Iger signed off so quickly on the deal.
Thursday’s NY Post cover summed it up perfectly:
“Journalism”: Sad Days at ABC News: Stephanopoulos ‘Apoplectic’ Over $15M Settlement, Staff in Turmoil
Incurious George: Stephanopoulos Ignores Huge ABC Trump Defamation Settlement on His Own Show
As we’ve reported, Stephanopoulos is said to be “humiliated” and “apoplectic” over the settlement. Although some staffers are reportedly upset that Disney/ABC caved, others wonder how the former Clinton aide and nakedly partisan “journalist” can continue in his job:
A source said ABC News employees are now calling Stephanopoulos “Furious George” behind his back. They are also wondering how the star anchor can now cover the incoming Trump administration.
“Everyone seems to be asking that question except ABC brass,” the source said.
Many question why Furious George was ever hired in the first place, since he was famously in charge of quashing Bill Clinton’s “bimbo eruptions” in the ’90s and discrediting the then-president’s many accusers. Lucky for him it was before the advent of MeToo:
There were reportedly other factors at play that helped determine Iger’s decision to settle:
Iger also was worried that fighting the case could “risk damaging press protections” and “hurt the Disney brand,” according to the Times.
If Disney were to suffer a negative outcome in US District Court in Florida, the company feared the possible repercussions of appealing to the Supreme Court given the current 6-3 right-leaning majority.
According to the Journal, Disney was concerned that appealing an unfavorable ruling to the Supreme Court would have increased the risk of possibly overturning New York Times v. Sullivan, the landmark 1964 decision that granted the press sweeping protections against defamation lawsuits.
This is an ugly week for Disney and ABC News—and a really ugly one for Furious George. It’s hard to see how his journalism career, at least at ABC, survives.
