Nick Sandmann reaches settlement with NBC in Covington Catholic controversy

Former Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann announced on Friday that he had reached a settlement with NBCUniversal. This is Sandmann's third settlement with a major news outlet stemming from media coverage over a confrontation at the Lincoln Memorial in January 2019.

Sandman, now 19 years old, announced the settlement with NBC on Twitter.

"At this time I would like to release that NBC and I have reached a settlement. The terms are confidential," Sandmann tweeted.

"Documents filed Friday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky show both parties agreed to dismiss the case without a judgment from the court," the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

Sandmann's attorneys slapped a $275 million defamation lawsuit against NBCUniversal in May 2019. The lawsuit claimed that NBC "unleashed its vast corporate wealth, influence, and power against Nicholas to falsely attack him despite the fact that at the time, he was a 16-year-old high school student."

"NBCUniversal’s attacks on Nicholas included at least fifteen defamatory television broadcasts, six defamatory online articles, and many tweets falsely accusing Nicholas and his Covington Catholic High School ('CovCath') classmates of racists acts," the lawsuit contended. "NBCUniversal created a false narrative by portraying the 'confrontation' as a 'hate crime' committed by Nicholas."

The lawsuit argued that NBC's coverage was "relying heavily on biased and unreliable sources without conducting any reasonable investigation of the circumstances surrounding the January 18 incident."

In 2020, CNN and the Washington Post both settled defamation lawsuits from Sandmann for undisclosed amounts.

After the settlements, Sandmann said, "We have settled with WAPO and CNN. The fight isn't over. 2 down. 6 to go."

In March 2020, Sandmann's attorneys filed complaints against the New York Times, ABC News, CBS News, Rolling Stone, and Gannett over their reporting on the Covington Catholic high school student.

The former student from Kentucky was chastised by the media for allegedly "smirking" during a viral standoff with Native American elder Nathan Phillips in 2019 during the March for Life in Washington, D.C., when he was 16 years old.

"I see it as a smile, saying that this is the best you're going to get out of me," Sandmann said in a 2019 interview with NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie. "You won't get any further reaction of aggression. And I'm willing to stand here as long as you want to hit this drum in my face."

Sandmann commented on the situation involving Kyle Rittenhouse, who was also thrust into the spotlight as a teenager and lambasted by the media.

"Kyle was almost immediately labeled a 'white supremacist' and a 'domestic terrorist,'" Sandmann wrote in an op-ed for the Daily Mail. "They came quickly, without hesitation, because Kyle was an easy target that they could paint in the way they wanted to."

"This is the problem with liberal media outlets in the United States," Sandmann wrote. "They want to get the story first, get the most views, make the most money, and advance the agenda from liberal patrons."

"I am here for you, and if you ever would like to reach out to me, I am about the only person our age to have an idea of how the media is treating you," Sandmann added. "The way the media has treated you is terrible, and you don't have to face it alone."