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CNN’s Post-Trial Purge

CNN stood by Alex Marquardt through a high-profile defamation trial—until a message from a company lawyer following the settlement set off a chain of events that ended with his sudden ouster.

Author

Oliver Darcy
June 02, 2025

CNN National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt (Screen grab via CNN)

At 10:04am on Monday, Alex Marquardt took a deep breath and pressed send on an email to his CNN colleagues, bidding them farewell. “It’s been an extraordinary time, which is why it’s so tough to say goodbye,” he wrote in the surprise announcement, reflecting on his eight years at CNN and calling it an “honor” to work alongside the network’s national security team. He didn’t mention that he had just been dismissed. Or that CNN—after defending him through a closely-watched defamation trial, promoting him, and grooming him as a future anchor—had abruptly severed ties.

Marquardt’s exit came months after a Florida jury found CNN liable for defamation in a case brought by U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young, stemming from a 2022 report by Marquardt. After a bruising—and embarrassing—trial cheered on by CNN’s detractors in MAGA Media, the jury awarded Young $5 million in damages, and the network settled the case before punitive damages were determined.

It might have ended there. And for a while, it looked like it had…

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Shari Redstone. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Status Scoop | Shari's Silence: Last month, on May 20th, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Ron Wyden sent Paramount Global boss Shari Redstone a letter, warning the media heiress that settling the "60 Minutes" lawsuit with Donald Trump to push through its Skydance Media merger could break bribery laws. In the letter, the three senators asked Redstone nine questions, including asking her to "describe any changes to Paramount’s mediation of ‘60 Minutes’ content made to facilitate approval of Paramount’s pending merger with Skydance." The senators asked Redstone to respond to their questions by June 2nd. Well, the deadline…

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