Maybe the law is dumb in this area, but to defame a public figure, simple negligence isn’t sufficient. The plaintiff must prove “actual malice,” i.e., knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard of whether X was true or false. It looks the producer of that segment meets that strict standard. But NBC may advance a rogue producer narrative, according to which it would be guilty of is falling for the deception of the evil producer. That’s simple negligence, at worst.
And absent a smoking-gun e-mail or other definitive evidence showing that higher-ups at NBC were in on the deception, NBC just might get away with it.
But that’s a legal analysis.
Public relations might dictate settling quick, because a drawn-out case in which NBC’s DEFENSE is “We’re not guilty because we’re idiots, not deliberate liars” would do much more reputation damage than would a million or so forked over to Zimmerman, cloaked by a confidentiality agreement.
LLS