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Having to pay a jaw-dropping $16 million to settle a defamation lawsuit over his big mouth hasn’t soured ABC-Disney on star anchor George Stephanopoulos.

Days after running up the white flag in the suit filed by President-elect Donald J. Trump who it was forced to apologize to, it was announced that the network has reached a new deal with the left-wing propagandist.

The longtime “Good Morning America” host who was reportedly “humiliated” by the network’s decision to settle the lawsuit over bogus “rape” claims that he repeatedly made against Trump, was rewarded days after the agreement to pay for his poor judgment.

Stephanopoulos’ new deal was first reported by the Los Angeles Times, putting an end to speculation that he could soon be out at ABC which was swirling since news of the settlement broke.

The paper reported that Stephanopoulos “recently agreed to a new multi-year contract to remain with the ABC News morning program, according to several people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly.”

Terms of the deal weren’t divulged but the former Clinton White House communications director was reportedly being paid $18 million a year under his previous contract and is one of the most highly compensated anchors on TV.

“The agreement, which sources said was approved by Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, came just as the case went to trial, where its top executives and anchors were expected to testify. Many libel attorneys were surprised the suit was not settled before a substantial amount of emails and testimony were revealed in court records,” according to the paper.

News of ABC-Disney’s pre-Christmas gift to Stephanopoulos comes as it was reported that the lawsuit could have been avoided had the anchor simply listened to his producer.

According to the New York Post, the “This Week” host was warned not to “use the word rape” when going on the air to discuss Trump during a heated interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) who is a rape survivor but ignored the advice to repeatedly claim that the former president was “found liable for rape” in the E. Jean Carroll case, an arrogant decision that proved to be very costly.

“This Week’ producer said ‘don’t use the word rape’ before the segment started,” the Post reported, citing an unnamed network exec. “The EP [executive producer] said it so many times.”

Another source at the show “confirmed via a text message viewed by The Post that Stephanopoulos was warned ‘not to say rape,” according to the paper which noted that “when dealing with litigious subjects, the company’s legal team may speak to producers ahead of time to advise on language so as to avoid lawsuits, which is customary in the media industry,” although it’s not clear if ABC’s legal team spoke to producers before the ill-fated segment.

Even though he’s getting paid, the “humiliated” Stephanopoulos reportedly is not pleased over his employer’s decision to settle, and the Post reported that ABC employees are now referring to him as “furious George” behind his back.

Chris Donaldson
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