CNN could soon land in a Florida courtroom as it faces a defamation lawsuit from a security contractor who took payments to evacuate people out of Afghanistan following the U.S. military’s 2021 withdrawal.
The contractor, Zachary Young, was included in a November 2021 segment on war profiteers charging high prices to assist people in fleeing Afghanistan after the U.S. exited.
The report used the term “black market” in an onscreen graphic and in a spoken introduction, which Young says falsely portrayed his activities as illegal. The term was removed from the web version of the story after Young complained, and CNN issued an an on-air apology, clarifying that he was not involved in illegal activity. But Young, a Navy veteran, asserts that the story’s global exposure on CNN’s channels and digital platforms damaged his reputation and destroyed his Florida-based consulting business, Nemex Enterprises, which served multinational corporations.
A photo of Young appeared onscreen above a graphic that read, “Afghans trying to flee Taliban face black markets, exorbitant fees, no guarantee of safety or success.” The case has been winding through the legal system for two years. A Florida appeals court ruled in June that there was enough evidence of negligence and actual malice by CNN to allow Young to seek punitive damages from the network.
Settlement talks hit an impasse. On Monday, Judge William Henry Scott ruled that Young did not act illegally, but held off on deciding w.
