CNN Reporter At Center Of Navy Veteran Defamation Case Is Out Of A Job

The reporter at the center of a recent defamation case against cable news giant CNN announced on Monday that he was leaving the network “after 8 terrific years.”

Alex Marquardt, who worked for ABC News prior to his nearly decade-long stint at CNN, was the focal point of a defamation suit brought by U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young. The network lost that lawsuit, and was ordered to pay out $5 million in economic and emotional damages. CNN was also on the hook for punitive damages, but the amount was never made public.

The reporter made the announcement in a post on X, saying, “Some personal news: I’m leaving CNN after 8 terrific years. 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.”

BREAKING: CNN reporter @MarquardtA who defamed Navy veteran Zachary Young announces he’s leaving the network https://t.co/l8tEkbWxJY

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) June 2, 2025

The lawsuit came about after Marquardt featured Young in a story about private contractors assisting with evacuations in the aftermath of former President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Marquardt framed the story in a way that unfairly painted Young as greedy and willing to capitalize on the pain of families desperate to get people out of the country.

As The Daily Wire previously reported, Young’s attorney Kyle Roche claimed during opening statements that the CNN report was “reckless” and that the network had “set out to destroy Zach’s reputation.”

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“They didn’t care about the truth. They cared about theater and they cared about ratings,” he said, previewing internal messages from CNN editors who stated that Marquardt’s report was “full of holes like Swiss cheese” and “80 percent emotion and 20 percent obscured fact.”

Other text messages between Marquardt and Young — and Marquardt and his colleagues at CNN — played a role in revealing just how far the reporter had been willing to go for a story that Young warned him would result in legal action.

Marquardt did not give any indication as to where he might be headed following his departure from CNN.