9/5 – U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young, who earlier this year secured a $5 million defamation verdict against CNN, was unable to replicate that effort in lawsuits against the Associated Press and Puck. On Friday, Judge William Henry of Florida’s 14th Judicial Circuit dismissed both cases, likening them to movie sequels that “should not be made.”

Young’s award against CNN came after a jury concluded the network falsely implied he profited illegally while aiding evacuations during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. But Judge Henry ruled that AP’s description of Young’s business as helping “smuggle people out of Afghanistan” did not meet the legal threshold for defamation. The court called Young’s claims against the AP and Puck as a “forced play without any character development,” lacking a clear “villain” under applicable law and merely repackaging the CNN trial against new defendants.