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CNN Defamation Trial: Zachary Young & Nemex Enterprises Inc. v. CNN

Published at 1:00 PM, January 17, 2025

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (Court Television)– A Florida jury has actually discovered CNN guilty of libeling a Navy veteran who declared the network damaged his credibility.

Zachary Young stated CNN rendered him “completely unemployable” when they ran a report that wrongly implicated him of earning money off of assisting desperate individuals run away Afghanistan.

An image of Zachary Young and his canine is displayed in court Jan. 7, 2025 throughout his character assassination case versus CNN. (Court Television)

The sector declared that Young, who worked as a security specialist, used Afghans so-called”black market evacuations “on Aug. 30, 2021– the day the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan.

SEE|Navy Vet on CNN Report: It Put Me In a Mental and Emotional Tailspin

Young was the very first witness to take the stand in the disparagement fit submitted by him and his security seeking advice from partner, the Boca Raton, Fla.-based Nemex Enterprises.

The CNN report by Alexander Marquardt aired on Nov. 11, 2021, on “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” It declared professionals were charging inflated amounts of cash to leave Afghans. Young declares the network smeared his name when it called him an “unlawful profiteer.” He argued that the section was filled with lies released for sensationalism. Days later on, it was published on CNN.com and CNN’s Facebook page.

SEE|CNN Defamation Trial: CNN Correspondent Alex Marquardt Takes the Stand

CNN provided an on-air apology in March 2022, however a judge ruled that the apology was insufficient. The network decided, nevertheless, to wait its report instead of settle with Young out of court.

On direct evaluation, Young explained the destruction of being identified a criminal as quickly as CNN associated his name with the term “black market.”

On Jan. 17, a jury discovered CNN guilty of maligning Young and granted him $5 million in damages, reported the Associated Press. That jury is now being asked to identify whether CNN needs to pay extra compensatory damages.