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The plaintiff on CNN defamation trial underway accused CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt of setting up a phone call for “theatrics,” but the reporter insists the call was made and simply recreated for television.
Zachary Young alleges that CNN defamed him in a November 2021 report that first aired on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” suggesting he illegally benefited from desperate people trying to flee Afghanistan following the The Biden administration military retirement, implying that he was involved in “black market” businesses that ruined his professional reputation.
During the televised segment at the center of the trial, CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt claimed to have made an on-air call to Young. But the Navy veteran insists he never received the call, and screenshots of his Signal account support the claim that Marquardt didn’t actually make the call.
However, Marquardt testified Monday that he called the number he believed belonged to Young and that jurors believe could help determine who prevails in the high-stakes trial.
CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt was shown allegedly trying to call Zachary Young in the middle segment of the lawsuit.
Young’s lead attorney, Vel Freedman, showed jurors footage of Marquardt allegedly making the call over Signal, an encrypted messaging app popular with journalists. The number he dialed was saved on his iPhone as Zachary Young. Nobody responded.
“Make sure the cameraman has a clear view of Zachary Young, the contact, right?” -Freedman asked.
“Yes, you can see his long Austrian number there,” Marquardt replied.
Freedman responded: “We see a long Austrian number there, right?”
“But that’s who (CNN reporter) Katie Bo Lillis was texting,” Marquardt responded.
Freedman said he couldn’t see the number, but Marquardt responded, “I know for a fact it was the same number in my phone.”
“The screen shows you calling a contact named Zachary Young, right?” -Freedman asked.
“That’s right,” Marquardt said.
Freedman then reminded the CNN correspondent that he had sworn to tell the truth.
“Was it Mr. Young’s real phone number or just a friend’s phone number that you saved under the name Zachary Young?” -Freedman asked.
“That was the number that I believed was Mr. Young’s and that Katie Bo Lillis had given me, because she had been texting him at that number,” Marquardt said.
Zachary Young alleges that CNN defamed him in a November 2021 report that first aired on “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” During the televised segment at the center of the trial, CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt claimed to have made an on-air call to Young.
The plaintiff’s legal team showed jurors side-by-side images of Alex Marquardt and Zachary Young’s phone, highlighting where Signal shows missed calls between the parties.
Freedman then showed the jury side-by-side images of Marquardt and Young’s phone, highlighting where Signal showed missed calls between the parties. No Signal account showed any phone calls between Marquardt and Young.
“Signal shows call messages in your chat history, right?” Freedman said.
“Yes, yes,” Marquardt replied.
Freedman explained that the text conversation between Marquardt and Young began on November 10, 2021 and the phone call allegedly took place on November 3, 2021.
“There are no missed calls in Mr. Young’s chat history, correct?” Freeman said.
Marquardt replied: “I don’t see it there.”
“There are no outgoing calls in your message history with Mr. Young, correct?” -Freedman asked.
“That’s right,” Marquardt said.
“Was Zachary Young saved with that phone number?” -Freedman asked.
“Yes, it was. It was the same number that Katie Bo Lillis had given me, the one he had been using,” Marquardt said.
Freedman then showed jurors behind-the-scenes footage of Marquardt making the call and a producer can be heard instructing him to back away from the camera.
Marquardt said he let it ring “several times” before hanging up because no one answered. He admitted that a cameraman told him to hold the phone and pretend to be listening.
“You are pretending to call Mr. Young, correct?” Freeman said.
“I don’t know what he was doing at the time, it seems like he was making a call,” Marquardt said.
Alex Marquardt testified Monday that he called the number he believed belonged to Zachary Young.
Marquardt admitted that no ringing was heard on the video.
“You were pretending to call him, weren’t you?” Freedman asked after pausing the video.
“I don’t know,” Marquardt said.
Freedman asked him if he was willing to admit that he was “pretending” to call Young after the video showed no ring and Signal did not show a missed call.
“I was holding my phone like I was making a phone call after I’d made it. What we’re talking about is very basic television production,” Marquardt said. “We will receive shots that we want to edit into the piece.”
“Theatre, of course,” Freedman said, hinting at something that appeared in the video.
“This is very standard practice,” Marquardt said.
“That standard practice of a fake phone call appears in the final production video, right?” Freeman said.
“You saw the very real phone call I tried to make to Mr. Young, and I wish I had picked up so I could explain what I was doing. There was definitely a call to Mr. Young that day.” Marquardt said.
Freedman responded, “Sir, I saw you make a phone call to someone named Zachary Young…that’s all I saw.”
“I can tell you, Mr. Freedman, I used the phone number given to me by my colleague who had been texting with Mr. Young. As far as I knew, that phone number was Mr. Young’s because she had had success texting with him,” Marquardt said.
“The same phone number, of course, that I used a week later to text him and that he responded to,” Marquardt added. “As far as I knew, that was his phone number. I called him, but he didn’t answer the phone.”
Marquardt then said that the video being shown to the jury was called a “pickup take,” which would be edited into the final story.
“This is a very standard production,” Marquardt said.
“That shot where you pretend to call Mr. Young makes it to the final segment, correct?” -Freedman asked.
“Yes,” Marquardt said.
“That drama comes to the final segment, correct?” -Freedman asked.
“No, that shot did it,” Marquardt responded.
Freedman then asked the court to resume the paused behind-the-scenes video of Marquardt allegedly making the call. When the video resumed, Marquardt was seen waving his hands and saying the word “theater” to his CNN colleagues in an exaggerated British accent.
“Sir, that theater comes to the final take, correct?” -Freedman asked.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper and correspondent Alex Marquardt during the 2021 segment at the center of a defamation lawsuit. (CNN/Screenshot)
“The phone call did it,” Marquardt responded.
“You can’t even say it, can you?” Freeman said. “‘Theatre’ made it to the final take, right?”
Marquardt insisted that he “did not fake” a phone call, prompting Freedman to remind the CNN correspondent that he simply explained that faking the call was standard television production.
“That theatrics made it to the final segment of the video, correct?” Freedman said, imitating the voice Marquardt used to say the word “theater” in the video.
“The shot did it, yes,” Marquardt said as Young was seen flashing a rare smile in the courtroom.
“I appreciate that you’re trying to present this as some kind of scandal. I can explain what’s going on here,” Marquardt said.
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Freedman then reminded Marquardt that he had previously testified that what he considered “theatrics” was not used in the report.
“You lied to the jury, didn’t you?” -Freedman asked.
“I didn’t do it,” Marquardt said.
Marquardt later insisted that his “theater” joke in the behind-the-scenes video was a reference to an old Jon Lovitz sketch on “Saturday Night Live.”
The trial will be broadcast live Fox News Digital.
