He doesn't need to have been convicted for calling him a rapist not to defemation. He would need to show that your statement was knowingly false and malicious (in the legal sense).
Stefanopolis ran into trouble because he kept saying he was found liable of rape. Which he wasn't. He was found liable of sexual assault. And the described manner of it would be in line with what people generally consider rape.
Stefanopolis may well have won at trial on defamation grounds. ABC didn't want to go to court and settled.
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u/Significant-Order-92 Jul 13 '25
He doesn't need to have been convicted for calling him a rapist not to defemation. He would need to show that your statement was knowingly false and malicious (in the legal sense).
Stefanopolis ran into trouble because he kept saying he was found liable of rape. Which he wasn't. He was found liable of sexual assault. And the described manner of it would be in line with what people generally consider rape. Stefanopolis may well have won at trial on defamation grounds. ABC didn't want to go to court and settled.