Ex-CNN National Security Correspondent Lands New Gig After Losing Defamation Lawsuit

CNN’s former chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt, whose reporting led a Florida jury to find CNN liable in 2025 for defaming a former U.S. Navy sailor, has landed a new gig with Al Jazeera English.

The 44-year-old Marquardt was a staple at CNN for eight years before announcing his departure in June 2025 after Marquardt and CNN lost a $5 million liable suit brought by U.S Navy sailor Zachary Young.

Young had accused CNN of designing a smear campaign against him with a November 2021 report that first aired on The Lead with Jake Tapper.

“A Florida jury found that CNN defamed Young and ruled that he could seek punitive damages as a result of a November 2021 report by Marquardt,” Fox News Digital reported. “The report branded Young as a questionable profiteer who exploited ‘desperate Afghans’ trying to flee Afghanistan during the Biden administration’s chaotic military withdrawal from the Taliban-run country, implying Young was operating on a ‘black market.'”

The jury awarded Young $5 million in damages before Young and CNN reached an undisclosed settlement, “suggesting the network paid Young significantly more money,” Fox News Digital reported. “The jury foreman later told Fox News Digital they were prepared to make CNN pay ‘somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 million to $100 million’ in punitive damages.”

This week, Marquardt announced on X, “I’m very excited to be joining Al Jazeera @AJEnglish in Washington after years of watching their extraordinary coverage from around the world,” Marquardt announced on X. “Kicking things off today with the US 250th coverage and will be hosting ‘This is America,’ every day at 2:30pm ET. Hope you’ll tune in!”

Marquardt’s had long been a well regarded journalist prior to the incident. Current and former CNN staffers congratulated Marquardt via social media:

Young was not so kind telling Fox News: “Judging by his Twitter, Al Jazeera might be the only newsroom where his coverage and his opinions actually match.”

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!