CNN’s $1 Billion Defamation Lawsuit: Trial, Verdict, and Settlement

A Florida jury on January 17, 2025, found CNN liable for defaming Navy veteran Zachary Young and awarded him $5 million in compensatory damages, and hours later CNN reached a confidential settlement with Young before the same jury could decide punitive damages. That outcome is the short answer to what happened in the CNN defamation lawsuit’s verdict and settlement, but the numbers only make sense alongside what the jury saw: internal CNN messages calling the story “full of holes like Swiss cheese” and a reporter vowing to “nail” the plaintiff. Young had sought as much as $1 billion.¹²

The Story That Started It

On November 11, 2021, CNN aired a segment on “The Lead with Jake Tapper” reported by chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt. The piece examined private contractors charging Afghans to flee the country after the Taliban takeover. Young, who ran Florida-based Nemex Enterprises and had previously worked for Blackwater and DynCorp International, was the only contractor named.³⁴

The broadcast displayed Young’s photo and LinkedIn post under a chyron referencing “black markets” and “no guarantee of safety or success.” Marquardt cited messages in which Young quoted $75,000 to evacuate a vehicle from Kabul to Pakistan and $14,500 per person to reach the United Arab Emirates. A companion online article acknowledged that CNN could not confirm whether Young had actually evacuated anyone who paid him.³⁵

Young said his evacuations were paid for by corporate sponsors and nonprofits, not by desperate individuals. Court records showed Audible paid $54,000 for three evacuations, Bloomberg paid $141,500 for five, and two nonprofits paid a combined $188,000 for three more.⁶

In March 2022, CNN issued an on-air correction. Substitute anchor Pamela Brown said “the term ‘black market’ should not have been used in the story at all” and that the network “did not intend to suggest that Mr. Young participated in a black market.” CNN removed the video from its website. Young sued later that year.³

How the Case Reached a Jury

Young filed suit in the Circuit Court for Bay County, Florida, part of the state’s 14th Judicial Circuit, before Judge William Henry. He alleged CNN had “recklessly and maliciously” ruined his career by portraying him as exploiting Afghan evacuees through an illegal operation. Judge Henry ruled before trial that there was no evidence Young had committed any illegal acts.⁴⁵

A significant pretrial fight decided whether Young could pursue punitive damages. Florida law requires a plaintiff to show a “reasonable evidentiary basis” before adding such a claim. The Florida First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s decision to let Young amend his complaint, finding sufficient evidence of actual malice — publishing with knowledge of falsity, or with reckless disregard for probable falsity.⁷

The appellate court laid out what the evidence showed: Young had notified Marquardt of factual inaccuracies hours before publication and CNN ran the story anyway; internal messages called the report “a mess,” “incomplete,” “not fleshed out,” and “full of holes like Swiss cheese”; and staff had used derogatory language about Young and expressed an intent to “nail” him. The court also concluded that calling Young’s work a “black market” implied illegality, which took it out of the realm of protected opinion.⁷

What the Internal Messages Showed

The most damaging evidence at trial came from CNN’s own staff. Thomas Lumley, CNN’s senior national security editor, told breaking news editor Megan Trimble before the digital story ran that it was “full of holes like Swiss cheese,” “pretty flawed,” and “very much not ready for prime time.” Trimble answered: “Agree. The story is 80% emotion, 20% obscured fact.” Lumley questioned whether any paying Afghan client had actually been evacuated, calling that a “fundamental question.” He held the digital piece briefly, but the segment had already aired. On the stand, Lumley described his critiques as “storytelling questions” rather than accuracy concerns.⁸⁹

Other messages were personal. Marquardt wrote to assistant managing editor Matthew Philips, “We gonna nail this Zachary Young mfucker.” Philips replied, “Gonna hold you to that one cowboy.” At trial, Philips called the exchange “banter.” Producer Michael Conte referred to Young as having a “punchable face.” Adam Levine, CNN’s senior vice president of news, testified that such messages did not violate CNN policies or affect editorial decisions.⁸

The Trial and the Verdict

The trial was held in January 2025 in Panama City, Florida. Young was represented by Kyle Roche of Freedman Normand Friedland LLP and attorney Devin Freedman. Roche told the jury the case gave them a chance to “send a message to mainstream media” and “change an industry.”¹⁰¹¹

CNN’s defense was that its reporting was fair and accurate, and that its staff had used “black market” to mean “unregulated” rather than illegal. The network also produced a December 8, 2021 consulting agreement Young had signed with government contractor Helios Global, less than a month after the story aired, and accused Young of not disclosing it during discovery. Young’s team called that a “trial by ambush.” Judge Henry declined to rule on the competing bad-faith accusations but allowed CNN to use the document.⁸¹²

On January 17, 2025, the jury found CNN liable and awarded Young $4 million in lost earnings and $1 million in personal damages, totaling $5 million in compensatory damages.¹³

The Settlement Before Punitive Damages

The trial then moved to a hearing on CNN’s finances, a required step before punitive deliberations. Forensic economist Robert Johnson presented CNN’s corporate tax returns showing annual revenue had fallen from $2.2 billion in 2021 to $1.8 billion in 2023, an 18% decline, with net income dropping from $600 million to $400 million and net worth cut nearly in half, from $4.4 billion to $2.3 billion. CNN disputed those figures, describing them as “the Plaintiff’s interpretation of a subset of data.”¹⁴

About four hours after the compensatory verdict, CNN and Young settled. The agreement resolved the case, eliminated any punitive damages award, and precluded appeal. Terms were not disclosed.¹⁵

Jury foreperson Katy Svitenko told reporters afterward that she personally would have set punitive damages as high as $100 million, an amount she said would have been “high enough to actually punish CNN and to get the attention of other media outlets as well.”²

After the Verdict

CNN issued a brief statement: “We remain proud of our journalists and are 100% committed to strong, fearless and fair-minded reporting at CNN, though we will of course take what useful lessons we can from this case.”¹⁶

In June 2025, Alex Marquardt announced his departure from CNN after eight years at the network.¹⁷

1
Newsweek. CNN Defamation Case in Florida Over Afghan Evacuation Report
2
Variety. CNN Defamation Trial Juror Would Have Awarded $100 Million in Punitive Damages
3
OPB. CNN Faces Defamation Trial Over Story on Black Market Rescues From Afghanistan
4
Courthouse News Service. CNN Loses in Florida Defamation Case
5
Georgetown Free Speech Project. CNN Settles With Navy Veteran After Defamation Verdict in Black Market Afghanistan Rescue Case
6
Courthouse News Service. CNN Pokes Holes in Security Contractor’s Defamation Claims Over Afghanistan Evacuation Story
7
Florida First District Court of Appeal. Opinion, Case No. 1D2023-2237
8
Courthouse News Service. CNN’s Fact-Checking Criticized in Defamation Case
9
Fox News. CNN Defamation Trial Editor Who Said Story Full of Holes Like Swiss Cheese Grilled on Witness Stand
10
Freedman Normand Friedland. Kyle Roche
11
First Amendment Encyclopedia, MTSU. CNN Defamation Trial Comes at a Rough Time for Legacy Media and for the Struggling Network
12
Law and Crime. CNN Produces Surprise Document to Accuse Navy Veteran of Lying in Defamation Case
13
Fox Business. CNN’s Net Worth Cut in Half Between 2021 and 2023, Forensic Economist Reveals During Defamation Trial
14
New York Post. CNN’s Revenue Dropped Roughly $400 Million in Three Years, Court Records Show
15
Washington Post. CNN Defamation Case Over Afghanistan Withdrawal Story
16
BBC. CNN Found to Have Defamed US Navy Veteran Over Afghanistan Story
17
Hollywood Reporter. Alex Marquardt Exits CNN After Defamation Loss