Nicholas Sandmann, a former Covington Catholic student smeared after a 2019 incident with a Native American activist, has reached a third settlement in a series of lawsuits against media companies.
Sandmann announced over Twitter Friday that he had reached a settlement with NBC News. Sandmann’s legal team has already reached settlements with CNN and The Washington Post.
“At this time I would like to release that NBC and I have reached a settlement. The terms are confidential,” Sandmann said.
At this time I would like to release that NBC and I have reached a settlement. The terms are confidential.
— Nicholas Sandmann (@N1ckSandmann) December 17, 2021
NBC News did not immediately respond to The Daily Wire’s request for comment.
Sandmann’s face went viral after he and a group of his peers at Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky were filmed in a “standoff” with Nathan Phillips, a Native American activist, in January 2019 in Washington, D.C. Phillips had approached the group of teens while beating a drum and stopped in front of Sandmann.
Immediately following clips of the two circulating around social media, Sandmann was accused of blocking and harassing the older Native American man. Follow-up investigations debunked the initial outcry that had rocketed around the media.
After the incident, Sandmann elected to go after the media outlets and personalities who mischaracterized the interaction between himself and Phillips. Sandmann first settled with CNN in January 2020. As The Daily Wire reported:
CNN confirmed Tuesday that it has settled for an undisclosed amount with Nick Sandmann, one of the Covington Catholic High School students smeared by multiple news outlets after a video of a “standoff” between the teens and a Native American activist went viral. Following initial reports on the settlement, Sandmann’s lawyers have each issued brief public statements making clear their work on the young man’s behalf isn’t done.
After multiple news outlets and media figures smeared him and his peers for allegedly “blocking” and “harassing” Native American activist Nathan Phillips, whose account of the confrontation was quickly discredited by additional footage of the situation, Sandmann sued CNN, The Washington Post, and NBC Universal for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Sandmann settled with The Washington Post several months later in July. As The Daily Wire reported:
Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann announced on Friday that his legal team has settled its $250 million defamation lawsuit with The Washington Post.
“On 2/19/19, I filed $250M defamation lawsuit against Washington Post. Today, I turned 18 & WaPo settled my lawsuit,” Sandmann wrote on Twitter. “Thanks to @ToddMcMurtry & @LLinWood for their advocacy. Thanks to my family & millions of you who have stood your ground by supporting me. I still have more to do.”
Sandmann, experienced in weathering media smears, has recently expressed support for Kyle Rittenhouse, a teen who was recently acquitted after killing two men and wounding a third in self-defense during a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year. Sandmann encouraged Rittenhouse to file similar defamation suits against the media.
“I personally am still involved in six media lawsuits as January approaches marking three years since the confrontation took place at the March for Life,” Sandmann wrote last month in an op-ed for the Daily Mail. “So, if Kyle is prepared to take on another burden in his early life, with the acceptance that it might result in nothing, I answer, give it a shot and hold the media accountable.”