The matter was resolved just four hours after a Florida jury had found the network liable for defamation and awarded $5 million to security contractor Zachary Young.

A Florida jury began deliberations this afternoon in a security consultant’s defamation lawsuit against CNN. Zachary Young sued the network following a report in 2021 that he sought exorbitant fees to evacuate Afghans in what amounted to a black market in the chaotic U.

After 8 days of testimony and another 8 hours of deliberation, a local jury came back with their decision in a high-profile media lawsuit. “Do you find by the greater weight of the evidence that defendant CNN committed defamation per se against plaintiff Zachary Young?