Former “60 Minutes” correspondent Lara Logan has filed a massive $25 million lawsuit against New York Media and writer Joe Hagan over a 2014 hit piece that ran in New York Magazine titled “Benghazi and the Bombshell.”
Hagan’s article was about Logan’s 60 Minutes report on the attack on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which left four Americans dead including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
“The headline reference to ‘Bombshell’ was both sexist, insulting and defamatory at the same time,” Logan’s lawsuit states, according to a report from The Hill.
Though Logan’s report was later retracted, she maintains that Hagan’s attack was misleading. The reason for the retraction was an interview with British security contractor Dylan Davies, who has provided a misleading account of the incident in multiple venues. His book, which was released by Simon & Schuster was also recalled.
Logan apologized for the interview with Davies, which she referred to as a “mistake”, but maintains the essential parts of her report were accurate and true.
“The word was intended to portray Logan as a dangerous and untouchable and incendiary reporter,” the lawsuit asserts.
In one example of how Hagan misrepresented Logan, he referred to her being gang raped in Egypt as being “groped.”
“Logan’s compensation at the time the Hagan piece ran was $2.15 million. Her next contract was reduced to $750,000 as only a part-time correspondent,” the Hill reports.
Logan had been preparing to return to 60 Minutes, but it was derailed after Hagan’s report.
“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.”
New York Media has said that they are standing behind Hagan’s piece.
Logan is now working for Fox News’s streaming service, Fox Nation.
