Reporter who exited CNN after being at center of costly defamation trial lands at Al Jazeera English

Alex Marquardt, who exited CNN months after his reporting helped cost the company millions following a defamation trial, has landed a new gig at Al Jazeera English.

"I’m very excited to be joining Al Jazeera @AJEnglish in Washington after years of watching their extraordinary coverage from around the world," Marquardt announced Wednesday on social media. 

Marquardt was famously at the center of a high-profile defamation case brought against him and CNN in 2025 by U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young. A Florida jury found that CNN defamed Young and ruled that he could seek punitive damages as a result of a November 2021 report by Marquardt. The report branded Young as a questionable profiteer who exploited "desperate Afghans" trying to flee Afghanistan during the Biden administration's chaotic military withdrawal from the Taliban-run country, implying Young was operating on a "black market." 

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The jury had initially awarded Young $5 million in financial and emotional damages before Young and CNN reached an undisclosed settlement, suggesting the network paid Young significantly more money. The jury foreman later told Fox News Digital they were prepared to make CNN pay "somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 million to $100 million" in punitive damages. 

CNN parted ways with Marquardt roughly five months after the trial, and many of his now-former colleagues told Fox News Digital at the time that it was "obviously" tied to the costly defamation case despite the network declining comment on "personnel matters." 

Fox News Digital reached out to Marquardt for comment. 

Al Jazeera, which is largely funded by the government of Qatar, launched the English counterpart to Al Jazeera Arabic in 2006. Marquardt will host a daytime show called "This is America" for the outlet. 

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In a post-trial interview, Young said he hadn't forgiven Marquardt, calling him out for remaining defiant on the witness stand at the trial. However, Young seemed to hold no ill will more than a year later when asked about Marquardt’s new gig. 

"After a year on the sidelines, I’m glad he landed somewhere. Judging by his Twitter, Al Jazeera might be the only newsroom where his coverage and his opinions actually match," Young told Fox News Digital. 

Marquardt’s announcement was met with congratulatory messages from several of his former CNN colleagues. 

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On the witness stand, Marquardt insisted his infamous report was not a "hit piece" on Young and that he was proud of his work.

"I wasn't looking to take anyone down. I didn't take anyone down," Marquardt testified.

CNN issued an on-air apology in March 2022 after Young threatened to take legal action. But throughout the trial, Marquardt and several CNN staffers testified they didn’t feel the apology was necessary. CNN senior vice president Adam Levine admitted to the jurors that the apology was merely a legal decision.