Former ‘60 Minutes’ reporter Lara Logan has filed a $25 million defamation lawsuit against New York Media and writer Joe Hagan, for an article published five years ago, titled, “Benghazi and the Bombshell.”
The piece came after a report Logan made on 60 Minutes in 2013, about the 2012 attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens. The story was retracted when it was discovered that a key interview included false information from British security contact Dylan Davies, about his actions on the night of the attack on Sept. 11, 2012.
Logan released a public apology for the mistake regarding Davies’ account being included in the piece.
Seven months after the piece aired, Hagan published a story that allegedly included false and defamatory statements that resulted in substantial harm to Logan’s reputation.
“The headline reference to ‘Bombshell’ was both sexist, insulting and defamatory at the same time,” the suit argues. “The word was intended to portray Logan as a dangerous and untouchable and incendiary reporter.”
“The plan for Logan’s return to 60 Minutes was entirely and completely derailed after publication of the Hagan Hit Piece,” the suit claims.
Logan was compensated $2.15 million the time Hagan’s story ran. Her next contract was reduced to $750,000 as only a part-time correspondent.
“But for the Hagan Hit Piece, Logan would have earned more than $2,150,000 per year as a ’60 Minutes’ correspondent,” the lawsuit alleges. “She was young and extremely talented. She expected to work for CBS indefinitely.”
Logan said during an interview in February that she felt targeted for not reporting their preferred liberal narrative.
“They smear you personally,” Logan said. “They go after your integrity. They go after your reputation as a person and a professional. They will stop at nothing,” she added.
Hagan is now a special correspondent with Vanity Fair, but New York Media says it’s following the story.
“The New York Magazine article was thoroughly vetted and fact-checked, and we stand by our reporting,” a New York Media spokeswoman said.
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