In other words, it was going to be trivially easy to show that Stephanopoulos knew or should have known that the jury didn't find Trump liable for rape. HE SAID AS MUCH DURING HIS PRIOR INTERVIEW WITH CARROLL. - ThreadSky

gabrielmalor.bsky.social • 164 days ago

In other words, it was going to be trivially easy to show that Stephanopoulos knew or should have known that the jury didn't find Trump liable for rape.

HE SAID AS MUCH DURING HIS PRIOR INTERVIEW WITH CARROLL.

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compliancedivision.bsky.social•164 days ago

Ok, I get it.

roddyi.com•164 days ago

That's the potential that sticks out to me. But it's also one that could've been sorted out through the recently scheduled depositions...those are expensive, sure. But still a drop in the bucket compared to this settlement. So why skip it?

neurospark.bsky.social•164 days ago

But the judge called it rape by NY law. He wasn’t making things up. He was quoting the legal findings.

cathygellis.bsky.social•164 days ago

That still shouldn't rise to the standard of actual malice, as a matter of law.

At most it seems negligent, not reckless.

It shouldn't have been a question for the jury, but even as one it still looks eminently defensible. Especially in light of the lack of damages.

abtnatural.bsky.social•164 days ago

Wouldn't rape accusations be one of the few types of defamatory statements that actually would constitute defamation per se, and therefore no showing of actual damages would be required?

cathygellis.bsky.social•164 days ago

I am unaware of if that's the case in NY, but there would seem to be a Constitutional problem if that were the case there.

andycraig.bsky.social•164 days ago

I agree this wasn't the easy win people are assuming, and they may well have lost, and also GS was an idiot. But... it was still a craven thing to submit. The actual damages here would have to be the difference between (penile) "rape" and (digital) "sexual assault." How much could that really be?

questauthority.bsky.social•164 days ago

In reputational damage? Having a court judgment that one of your stars knowingly lied about the (by that point) sitting President?

zendarva.bsky.social•163 days ago

But, does it not matter that the judge in question specifically said the verdict means he is a rapist?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/19/trump-carroll-judge-rape/

andycraig.bsky.social•164 days ago

I meant damages for Trump, on the difference between what GS said and what's factually true.

questauthority.bsky.social•164 days ago

I know. Just pointing out that those are hardly the only, or even most important, damages in play in a settlement negotiation.

andycraig.bsky.social•164 days ago

Fair. Though the fact of how he screwed up in what he said is already out there, not really disputed, so I'm not sure conceding as opposed to an eventual judgement to that effect would really make anybody think more or less of ABC and Stephanopoulos.

questauthority.bsky.social•164 days ago

It's out there, not disputed, and long long forgotten by most of their advertising base. Which is why there are benefits to keeping it that way.

questauthority.bsky.social•164 days ago

The settlement cuts off several bad news cycles down the line, many of which would have taken place with Trump tweeting about the outcomes as President.

It's not a courageous decision, but I think it's within the limits of the kind of cowardice that's been business normal for decades.

andycraig.bsky.social•164 days ago

That would, I suppose, also have been the substantive truth defense, that the sting or gist of what he said wasn't *that* different enough to matter. Maybe they would have lost on that. But at some point you have to get to whether the rape/assault distinction really matters for any public perception

andkenbrbr.bsky.social•164 days ago

I think that this says what businesses Disney see in their future and what they don't see. Twenty years, probably ten, and they would fight until the end.

gabrielmalor.bsky.social•164 days ago

They're not just thinking about the money damages and cost of trial. They're thinking about the reputational damage, and they're also thinking about the danger associated with further angering MAGA.

andkenbrbr.bsky.social•164 days ago

I think that if ABC were part of Disney's future they would try to fight until the end, even if that required a lot of time and money. Since it isn't they aren't going to do so.

hardly.bsky.social•164 days ago

Hey thanks for this series of posts. I didn’t come into them with an aligned opinion but it’s good to be informed so you can change your views.

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