The Associated Press won’t have to face a defamation lawsuit over its reporting on the outcome of a trial between a U.S. Navy veteran and CNN, which earlier this year lost a case over a 2021 story falsely accusing him of operating a “black market” scheme to evacuate Afghans in the aftermath of the U.S. military withdrawal from the country.
“It is said that for some movies or television shows, sequels, spinoffs or reboots should not be made,” wrote Florida state court judge William Henry. “Often times, the story line is forced, new characters are not properly developed, inconsistencies arise between the original plot and the sequel’s, or the writers and producers are just lazy trying to cash in on a previously successful idea. These same things can be said of this case.”
In January, a jury found that CNN defamed the veteran, Zachary Young. He later sued AP over its reporting on the trial. He challenged a line in an article that said his “business helped smuggle people out of Afghanistan” and that he “worked exclusively with deep-pocketed outside sponsors like Bloomberg and Audible.”
The lawsuit alleged that the story is defamatory because it implied Young is a “villain profiteer” and accused him of committing a crime. “To ‘smuggle’ people implies covertly and unlawfully transporting them across borders,” the complaint stated. “That is not what Mr. Young did. The Afghans he assisted were evacuated through lawful means or with tacit approval from relevant authorities during a time of chaos; none were ‘smuggled’ in the sense of violating immigration or criminal laws.”
In the dismissal, the court concluded that AP’s story is a “substantially correct account” of the proceedings in the CNN case.
Even though AP inserted the smuggling allegation, it’s still protected by a legal doctrine that grants journalists the privilege to report on information based on public records as long as their accounts are reasonably accurate, Henry found. He said that the story’s overall description of the issues and outcome of the case wasn’t misleading or incorrect.
The upshot, per the ruling: context matters. Not only did the headline for AP’s story, “Florida jury says CNN defamed Navy veteran in story about endangered Afghans,” favor Young, the body of the article praised him for helping rescue people in the country. It then explained that he got a favorable outcome against CNN for “destroying his business through a 2021 story.” It would be obvious to any reader that CNN was found to have falsely accused him of a crime, the court said.
“If anything, the overall gist of the Article was that the reputation of a Navy veteran who rescued and saved Afghans from the Taliban was vindicated after CNN defamed him,” Henry wrote in the Aug. 29 ruling.
And with some Hollywood flare, the judge added, “This case was a second sequel that should not have been made. Unlike the CNN Case, this case has a forced plot without any character development. Under applicable law, there is no villain. Rather, this is an attempt to repackage the CNN storyline against a different opponent. After screening this production, the Court determines that this sequel should not be released because, under the facts, this third installment does not work.”
In a statement, AP said that it’s “pleased that this frivolous lawsuit was dismissed.” It added, “Our story was factual and accurate, and we stand by it.”
Young’s lawsuit against AP was the third he filed over the press’ depiction of his business. He also sued Puck News for a line in its story that read he charged “panicked locals … hefty fees — sometimes tens of thousands of dollars — to escape the Taliban.” That case was also dismissed.
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