Nicholas Sandmann’s lawsuit against ABC, CBS, other national outlets dismissed

COVINGTON, Ky. (WXIX) - Nicholas Sandmann’s libel lawsuits against ABC, CBS, Gannett, the New York Times, and Rolling Stone have been dismissed by a federal judge.

The lawsuits stem from an incident when Sandmann, a then 16-year-old Covington Catholic student, was participating in a March for Life at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. in January 2019.

Videos from the event gained national attention, particularly one showing Sandmann and Nathan Phillips, an indigenous man who was participating in the Indigenous Peoples March in D.C. that day.

The media outlets published stories that quoted or cited Phillips as claiming Sandmann “blocked” or “stopped [Phillips’] exit.”

Following the January 2019 incident in D.C., Sandmann filed lawsuits against ABC, CBS, CNN, Gannett (which owns the Cincinnati Enquirer’s parent company, USA Today), NBC, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and the Washington Post.

Sandmann’s complaints argue Phillips’ statements were false and defamatory, meaning the companies acted negligently, recklessly and with actual malice in publishing them. That is, the companies allegedly could have determined the statements were false using the other videos and by relying on “reasonable journalistic care,” but did not.

Other videos later surfaced showing different angles of the interaction between Sandmann and Phillips.

In 2020, Sandmann settled his lawsuits against CNN, NBC Universal and the Washington Post. A dozen Covington Catholic students also attempted a lawsuit against CNN, NBC and the Washington Post. That suit was dismissed.

Sandmann’s lawsuit sought $800 million from CNN, the Washington Post and NBC Universal.

The amounts from any of the three settlements have not been made public.

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