CNN will have to fork over at least $5 million to a U.S. Navy veteran after it lost a defamation trial in Florida on Friday. A Panama City, Florida, jury ruled that CNN had defamed security contractor Zachary Young when it aired a 2021 report that said he was part of a “black market” that price-gouged those attempting to flee Afghanistan after the U.

A Florida jury has found CNN guilty of libeling a Navy veteran who claimed the network destroyed his reputation. Zachary Young said CNN rendered him “permanently unemployable” when they ran a report that falsely accused him of making money off of helping desperate people flee Afghanistan.

Zachary Young alleged CNN defamed him in a report by chief security correspondent Alex Marquardt that said he operated in a "black market."