Zachary Young reacts to CNN defamation victory
U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young offers his reaction to winning the CNN defamation trial in an interview with Fox News Digital.
CNN staffers feel executive Adam Levine got a raw deal when he was stripped of responsibilities on Friday, only two months after taking one "for the team" during a high-profile defamation trial.
Levine, who was CNN’s senior vice president of Washington newsgathering and is now SVP Investigative and Washington News served as CNN’s corporate representative in January during the two-week trial that saw the network settle punitive damages after a jury found it committed defamation against U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young. Levine was the only CNN employee to sit in the Panama City, Florida courtroom for the entire trial, which was seen as an uncomfortable situation for the since-relegated executive.
"He always takes one for the team… now this," the current staffer told Fox News Digital.
"Adam is one of the smartest editorial leaders and hardest workers at CNN. He has been a true leader during some tumultuous times these last few years," they added.
JURY FINDS CNN COMMITTED DEFAMATION AGAINST NAVY VETERAN, SETTLEMENT REACHED ON PUNITIVE DAMAGES
Adam Levine was CNN’s corporate representative during a defamation trial in January.
CNN announced changes to its politics unit on Friday. The moves, which were first reported by Status and confirmed by Fox News Digital, include Levine losing supervision of the majority of political coverage from Washington to overseeing only two smaller units.
The staffer, who said "many of us" inside the D.C. bureau feel Levine deserves better, added that there is no animosity toward new SVP Editorial Strategy and News Phil Rucker, who will assume many of Levine’s responsibilities after joining CNN from the Washington Post earlier this year. The CNN employees simply feel Levine is being treated unfairly.
"We’ve seen him make so many sacrifices for the good of CNN," the staffer said, adding that Levine is "brilliant" and "deserves much respect."
CNN has given no indication the restructuring is related to the defamation trial.
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
January’s defamation trial saw a six-person jury rule that CNN defamed Young and was responsible for punitive damages after he successfully alleged the network smeared him by implying he illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan on the "black market" during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021.
As the jury was gearing up to determine punitive damages, 14th Judicial Circuit Court Judge William S. Henry announced that Young and CNN had reached a settlement for the amount that would be awarded to the Navy veteran.
CNN DEFAMATION TRIAL: LOSING CASE EXPECTED BUT STILL A BAD BRUISE FOR THE NETWORK, INSIDER SAYS
Adam Levine testified that an on-air apology CNN offered to U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young was only issued for legal purposes.
The settlement amount was not disclosed. The settlement announcement came after an expert witness suggested $150 million was a fair amount to punish CNN. During the explosive trial, Levine testified that an on-air apology CNN offered to Young was only issued for legal purposes.
"We felt in order to resolve the legal discussion at hand, a correction was due, or at least our legal department felt that way, I should say," Levine said.
Levine acknowledged that the apology was made in hopes for the network to quash the "potential for a lawsuit" by Young, but spent several minutes dodging questions about whether CNN thought Young's concern was "reasonable" enough to issue the apology.
"This was a decision made for legal reasons, and the correction was issued at the direction of our legal department," Levine said. "So, CNN thinks that the decision by the legal department was the right one for the company based on them being our legal department."
U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young settled with CNN for an undisclosed amount after a jury found he was defamed by the network. (Jessica Costescu)
Young himself believes Levine probably "expected better" from CNN after being put in such a tough spot.
"I imagine he probably feels slighted considering the amount of fire he took for CNN during my trial," Young told Fox News Digital.
"He had to sit there on the witness stand, across from the jury and testify under oath that CNN did nothing wrong, and as their corporate representative he stands behind their story and conduct. He was also put in the impossible position of retracting CNN's apology to me and admitting it was only a legal maneuver to try to mitigate damages," Young continued. "My impression was that Levine was simply toeing CNN's unbelievable narrative during my trial, and he probably expected better treatment for his loyalty, even though his effort to mitigate failed miserably."
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Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.