Former “60 Minutes” correspondent Lara Logan has filed a $25 million defamation suit against New York Media and writer Joe Hagan for a story that ran in New York magazine in 2014 titled “Benghazi and the Bombshell” — a story she claims has derailed her journalism career, according to The Wrap .
The five-year-old magazine story centered on a 2013 report by Logan on “60 Minutes” about the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi , Libya. Four Americans were killed in the attack, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
Logan’s report was retracted one month after it aired once CBS determined that a key interview in the story included false information.
“The headline reference to ‘Bombshell’ was both sexist, insulting and defamatory at the same time,” Logan’s lawsuit states. It refers to the story as the “Hagan Hit Piece.”
The lawsuit contends that the story ended up costing Logan financially, and that it portrayed her in a misleading light.
“The word [Bombshell] was intended to portray Logan as a dangerous and untouchable and incendiary reporter,” the lawsuit states.
Logan also charges that Hagan’s article included several false statements. Hagan referred to a “groping” of Logan while the reporter was on assignment in Egypt. The suit says she was the victim of a gang rape.
Logan’s report included an interview with British security contractor Dylan Davies, who provided misleading statements about his actions on the night of the attack on September 11, 2012. Davies’ book, The Embassy House had provided the same false account of his actions during the attack. Simon & Schuster, which is owned by CBS Corp., cancelled his book as a result.
Several weeks after the story aired, Logan apologized publicly for the “mistake” regarding Davies’ account being included in the piece, but said that the essential parts of the report remained true.
Hagan’s story that ran seven months after the story’s original airing came as Logan was rebuilding her reputation internally at “60 Minutes.”
“The plan for Logan’s return to ’60 Minutes’ was entirely and completely derailed after publication of the Hagan Hit Piece,” the suit claims.
Hagan is now a writer for Vanity Fair, and New York magazine has since been acquired by Vox Media.
Logan’s compensation was $2.15 million at the time the Hagan piece ran. Her next contract was reduced to $750,000 as only a part-time correspondent.
“But for the Hagan Hit Piece, Logan would have earned more than $2,150,000 per year as a ’60 Minutes’ correspondent,” the suit claims.
“She was young and extremely talented. She expected to work for CBS indefinitely,” it continues.
Last month, Logan signed with Fox News’s streaming service, Fox Nation, to host a docuseries that will include her reporting on American political topics.
The events surrounding the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi became a political football during the Obama administration, including for then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who became the target of vitriol, congressional hearings and lawsuits, as The Inquisitr has previously reported.