Glenn Beck Just Settled His Marathon Bombings Defamation Suit

Photo via AP.

Conservative commentator (and Boston plague-avoider) Glenn Beck’s time in the hot seat in Massachusetts is over.

A defamation lawsuit aimed at him by Abdulrahman Alharbi, the Saudi man from Revere who Beck insisted on his program was a “money man” for the Boston Marathon bombings (he wasn’t, and was, in fact, a victim of said bombings), has now been settled out of court.

The terms of the settlement are confidential, and Beck does not have to admit wrongdoing.

Beck will also not have to divulge the names of the government sources, who he says fed his staff insider tips about Alharbi suggesting the man had been funding terrorism, and that there was some kind of conspiracy to cover it up. A judge had ordered the names of those sources be made public. Beck refused, and the order fired critics who said forcing Beck to do so violated a tenet of journalism (among them Massachusetts media institutions).

Both sides of the lawsuit released a joint statement, published in Politico yesterday:

“No party has admitted any fault, wrongdoing, or responsibility as part of the settlement. Defendants have agreed to settlement of the pending action in furtherance of fundamental principles of journalistic integrity by preserving the confidentiality of their sources consistent with their rights and privileges under the First Amendment. The Plaintiff has pursued this action for the reasons set forth in his Complaint and believes those interests have been served by this resolution,” the statement reads.

Beck’s affiliated companies The Blaze, Mercury Radio Arts, and Premiere Networks, were also parties in the suit.