CNN parts ways with correspondent months after his story cost network millions in defamation suit

Months after his story on a security contractor in Afghanistan resulted in the network paying out millions of dollars to settle a defamation lawsuit, Alex Marquardt announced he was departing CNN as its chief national correspondent.

“Some personal news: I’m leaving CNN after eight terrific years,” Marquardt tweeted on Monday. “Tough to say goodbye but it’s been an honor to work among the very best in the business. Profound thank you to my comrades on the National Security team & the phenomenal teammates I’ve worked with in the US and abroad.”

Marquardt’s public acknowledgment that he was leaving the network came just as Status News founder Oliver Darcy, a former CNN colleague of the veteran correspondent, reported that CNN had dismissed Marquardt over “editorial differences.”

A CNN spokesperson declined to comment on what led to Marquardt’s departure, stating that the network does “not comment on personnel matters.” The spokesperson, however, did state that Marquardt’s tweet saying he was leaving CNN was accurate.

Earlier this year, however, an investigative story that Marquardt produced and reported about private contractors charging exorbitant fees to desperate refugees looking to flee war-torn Afghanistan was at the center of a defamation complaint filed by Zachary Young, a U.S. Navy veteran who was the only contractor named in the piece.

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According to Young’s lawsuit, the story – which first ran in 2021 – falsely tied him to “black market” operations in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of American forces from the country. He noted that Marquardt’s report suggested that his activities were criminal, leading to his inability to make a living as his reputation had been destroyed. Young testified that his business only charged corporate sponsors to evacuate Afghans and did not target individual residents.

While the story itself didn’t explicitly accuse Young of criminal behavior, on-air graphics when the report was featured on The Lead with Jake Tapper included the term “black market,” which eventually led the network to issue an apology the following year. However, CNN’s correction stating that it “did not intend to suggest that Mr. Young participated in a black market” was not sufficient for Young, who soon filed his lawsuit against the network.

After two days of deliberations following a trial that took place in a deeply conservative Florida district, a jury found CNN liable for defamation and awarded Young $4 million in financial damages and $1 million for emotional damage. The network then reached a settlement with Young for an undisclosed amount as the trial was set to enter the second phase to determine punitive damages.

Marquardt, along with several other network employees, testified during the two-week trial. For his part, he maintained that CNN’s initial correction to the story was unnecessary and that it was only done at the behest of the outlet’s legal team in hopes of avoiding a lawsuit.

“I reported the facts. I reported what I found. Everything in there was factual, accurate and, I believe, fair,” Marquardt said during the trial, objecting to Young’s legal team describing the story as a “hit piece” against the plaintiff. “You needed a bad guy for your scandal story,” Young’s attorney Devin Freedman asked Marquardt at one point. “You hated him, did you not?”

In the end, it may have been the Slack messages and emails from Marquardt to other editors about the story that were presented in court that sealed the trial’s fate. Marquardt and other CNN staffers referred to Young as a “sh*tbag” with a “punchable face,” with the now-former CNN correspondent saying he was “gonna nail this Zachary Young mf***er.”

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Following the verdict and settlement, a CNN spokesperson told The Independent: “We remain proud of our journalists and are 100 percent committed to strong, fearless and fair-minded reporting at CNN, though we will of course take what useful lessons we can from this case.”

Reacting to Marquardt’s departure from the network, an attorney for Young said that his client “believes the universe tends to reconcile things in its own time” and that “some outcomes speak for themselves.”

Marquardt, who briefly served as a campaign reporter for CNN in 2008, returned to the network nearly a decade later and was eventually promoted to chief national security correspondent in late 2023. Marquardt also occasionally filled in as an anchor.

The case also came at a very perilous time for news organizations, especially as the general public – and particularly conservatives – had grown increasingly discontent with legacy media outlets.

With the trial taking place just weeks after ABC News paid Donald Trump $15 million to settle his defamation lawsuit, legal experts urged CNN to reach a settlement with Young, mainly in light of the “damning” text messages from Marquardt that had been made public. Additionally, a judge ruled that the burden of proof was lower to prove CNN acted with “actual malice” because Young was not a public figure.

“My advice to CNN would be to cough it up. Settle,” former Bloomberg News media legal counsel Charles Glasser said. “Admit you’re wrong. Admit your hyperbole was out of line, and move on.”