George Stephanopoulos signed a brand new cope with ABC Information wherein the Good Morning America co-host will stay with the community, a information division spokesperson mentioned Wednesday.
Stephanopoulos signed a multiyear settlement, however no different particulars have been supplied. The settlement was mentioned to be unrelated to ABC’s $16 million settlement final week with President-elect Donald Trump, who sued in March over feedback that Stephanopoulos made on This Week, the Sunday present which he additionally hosts. A supply mentioned that the brand new contract was agreed to earlier than the settlement.
Stephanopoulos final renewed his cope with the community in 2021.
After the settlement, there had been hypothesis about his future on the community.
ABC’s settlement with Trump included a $15 million donation to the Trump presidential basis and library, and $1 million to his attorneys in authorized charges. Throughout an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) in March, Stephanopoulos had mentioned a number of instances that Trump had been discovered liable by a jury for “rape.” In reality, Trump had been discovered answerable for “sexual assault” in a defamation case introduced by author E. Jean Carroll. The decide overseeing the case, nonetheless, later wrote in one other ruling that “the discovering that Ms. Carroll did not show that she was ‘raped’ throughout the which means of the New York Penal Regulation doesn’t imply that she did not show that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many individuals generally perceive the phrase ‘rape.’”
Some within the ABC newsroom have been stunned by the settlement, believing that the community might have received the case. The community confronted a little bit of a backlash for the settlement, as some First Modification warned that it will embolden Trump to file further lawsuits.
Certainly, on Monday, Trump sued a pollster, Ann Selzer, beneath Iowa’s Client Fraud Act, claiming that her pre-election ballot Kamala Harris with a three-point lead was an intentional effort to intervene within the election. Selzer and the Des Moines Register, one other defendant in Trump’s go well with, have denied any such factor. Whereas her ballot was off, she was actually not the primary pollster to supply what is named an “outlier.”
Tim Richardson, program director of Journalism and Disinformation at PEN America, mentioned in an announcement earlier this week, “As many specialists have famous, the sample of fixed, weaponized lawsuits isn’t about correcting inaccuracies, however about intimidating journalists into silence and shielding authorities leaders from accountability. Whereas main networks like ABC could survive the monetary blow, smaller shops will face an existential menace from frivolous authorized claims.”
However networks are cautious of the unpredictability that comes from having a case go earlier than a jury.
The settlement got here simply days earlier than Stephanopoulos, in addition to Trump, have been to be deposed as a part of the invention course of, wherein either side additionally produce different documentation, like emails and texts.
Good Morning America this yr has fallen behind At the moment within the extremely aggressive morning present scores, as NBC has surpassed its rival in complete viewers for the previous seven weeks, per the community.
The Los Angeles Times first reported on Stephanopoulos’ deal this night.
