CNN’s Jake Tapper at Center of Defamation Lawsuit Against Network

CNN is now facing a defamation suit by a consulting company.

According to the filing, the network lied about the company’s work.

CNN has defended itself saying that it was an opinion-based story, with Jake Tapper right in the middle of the mess, who just happens to be hosting the upcoming presidential debate.

Defamation Suit

According to CNN, it was not reporting the news, this report was “opinion or ambiguous.”

The report was on Nemex Enterprises and its owner Zachary Taylor.

The company was part of the network used by the government to help evacuate Afghans after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

The background on the case stated, “On November 11, 2021, CNN's ‘The Lead with Jake Tapper’ aired a video segment by reporter Alex Marquardt about Afghans attempting to flee the Taliban via private evacuation operators like Young.

“Over the next few days, Marquardt's reporting was republished on another CNN program, disseminated on Facebook and Twitter, and repackaged into a digital article on CNN's website.”

Young sued the network after the report aired, stating that the report made it appear as though he was operating on the “black market.”

The court decision stated, “Specifically, Young alleged CNN repeatedly accused him of operating in a 'black market’ and mischaracterized his work as exploitative because he charged ‘exorbitant"’ fees Afghan citizens could not pay. Young claimed he was particularly harmed because he was the only private evacuator profiled in the reporting.”

When the story itself was investigated, it showed internal memos that staffers were concerned about the story being “incomplete,” “a mess,” and not “fleshed out for digital.”

This puts Tapper in a very interesting position because that story aired on his show, and Donald Trump has regularly accused CNN and the media in general of being fake news.

This suit will surely be top of mind for Trump if Tapper fires a bomb at him that Trump believes is unfair.