A Florida judge cleared the way for a trial to proceed in a case brought by a Navy veteran who sued CNN, contending that the network falsely claimed in 2021 that he exploited Afghan family members by charging exorbitant fees to get them out of the country during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal.
Zachary Young and his company Nemex Enterprises sued the network, claiming he and his business were defamed. In one instance, Young’s image appeared on screen with the chyron, “Afghans trying to flee Taliban face black markets, exorbitant fees, no guarantee of safety or success.”
In a summary judgment decision issued last week, Judge William Henry ruled that the jury would have to decide if the segment’s references to a “black market” “meant illegal or criminal.” He wrote that “there is record evidence to demonstrate that Defendant knew it was false, was aware of its probable falsity, made it with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not, or at least entertained serious doubts as to the veracity.”
The network had no comment on the decision.
The segment from Alex Marquardt was aired on CNN on Nov. 11, 2021, and re-aired three times. Links to the segments also were posted on social media, and a digital article was posted on Nov. 13.
The judge ruled that Young was a private individual, but noted that a jury would still have to determine whether the network acted with “actual” malice for the purpose of determining whether Young is entitled to punitive damages.
In his decision, Henry wrote that “there is sufficient evidence in the record by which a reasonable jury could determine with convincing clarity that Defendant acted with actual malice, dependent on the jury’s conclusion regarding use of the term ‘black market.’ Therefore, there is an issue of material fact as to whether Defendant acted with actual malice that must be submitted to the jury and precludes summary judgment.”
The judge ruled that other references to Young — like “exorbitant” and “exploit” — were statements of opinion and not actionable. Henry also ruled in favor of Young in finding that he did “not take money from Afghans,” ruling that CNN “does not have evidence” of such payments.
Henry ruled in CNN’s favor in determining that Nemex was not implicated in the case, as it was not named in the report.
As Young’s attorneys issued legal threats, CNN aired a segment on The Lead with Jake Tapper on March 25, 2022, in which the anchor told viewers that “the use of the term black market in the story was in error. The story included reporting on Zachary Young, a private operator who had been contacted by family members of Afghans trying to flee the country. We didn’t mean to suggest that Mr. Young participated in the black market. We regret the error and to Mr. Young, we apologize.”
The judge wrote that there was still “an issue of material fact” as to whether the apology was a “full and fair” retraction, but wrote that it was not published in connection to the tweets and online article.
