Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Sexually explicit AI-generated images of Taylor Swift cause uproar, two JP Morgan execs assume more power at the bank, and E. Jean Carroll wins against Donald Trump for the second time. Have a mindful Monday.
– Take two. On Friday, a jury came to a verdict: Former President Donald Trump owed writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million for defaming her and “ruining her credibility as an advice columnist” after she said he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s.
The verdict, arriving as Trump gains momentum in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, was a long-awaited victory. Carroll shared her story of being assaulted by Trump in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in a memoir and 2019 article for New York magazine. In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation in a suit Carroll brought under the Adult Survivors Act, which allowed survivors to sue in situations where the statute of limitations had expired. She was awarded $5 million.
That was an important moment—but this verdict is capturing even more attention. Since Trump left office, different legal cases have gone after the Trump Organization’s finances and the former president himself. There are the fraud cases, the election subversion, the hush money, the improper handling of classified documents, and the ballot challenges. Many of those suits, brought by district attorneys and federal authorities, are still in progress.
For now, it’s the underdog Carroll who has hit Trump where it hurts, as has her attorney Robbie Kaplan—now the only lawyer to have won twice against the former president.
After Carroll wrote her wrenching piece about Trump’s assault, he insulted her in every way possible. He implied the now 80-year-old writer was too old and too unattractive for him to be interested in assaulting. (Trump is 77.) He called her a liar. During the trial, an expert witness testified that Trump’s statements were likely heard by 85 million people, 21 million of whom would be likely to believe them. Trump stormed out of court during the trial’s closing arguments, as Kaplan told the jury he was a liar who thinks “the rules don’t apply to him.”
Carroll sued for $10 million in compensatory damages plus unspecified punitive damages; she was awarded $65 million in punitive damages plus $11 million for reputational damage and another $7.3 million.
Trump is likely to appeal, so it may be a while before Carroll sees any of this money. But she says she’s “not going to waste a cent of this.” Whatever happens with the payout, she’s already made a difference. While Trump continues to sail through the GOP primaries, seeming to avoid accountability at every turn, Carroll and Kaplan are among the first to bring him to justice.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Swift action. “Protect Taylor Swift” trended on X last week after sexually explicit images of the pop star generated by AI flooded the social media platform, one of which was viewed almost 50 million times. Fans and women across the internet responded to the controversy with renewed calls for lawmakers to establish legislation protecting women from AI exploitation. X blocked searches for Taylor Swift in an effort to contain the spread of the viral images. New York Times
- Succession speculation. Two frontrunners to replace Jamie Dimon as CEO of JPMorgan assumed new responsibilities last Thursday as the bank looks toward his successor. Jennifer Piepsack was named co-CEO of the department overseeing JPMorgan’s commercial and investment bank, while Marianne Lake will now sit solo atop the commercial banking arm. Yahoo Finance
- Fighting on. Former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards has continued to fight for abortion rights—all while battling brain cancer, she shared in a new profile. She says her latest treatment in a clinical trial helps her "focus on what I want to do with the time I have." The Cut
- Skills pay the bills. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey removed degree requirements from most jobs in the state government last week through an executive order that replaced them with “skills-based” requirements. Healey said that the change would lead to “a more inclusive, skilled workforce.” Boston Globe
- Replaced and rewritten. The Hairpin blog attracted a cult following and launched numerous reporting stars before the women-focused indie publication stopped posting content six years ago. Now owned by Serbian DJ Nebojša Vujinović Vujo, the Hairpin is churning out AI-generated articles and replacing old author bylines with generic men's names, possibly foreshadowing what an algorithm-centered media landscape will look like. WIRED
- Cervical cancer crisis. Deaths from cervical cancer are historically low in the U.S. but increasing among women in low-income parts of the country, according to researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Hispanic women were the demographic with the most cases in the research team’s study while Black women reported the most deaths. Axios
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: The Los Angeles Times named Terry Tang as interim executive editor, making her the first woman to lead the paper.
ON MY RADAR
Racism is rampant in health care and a new memoir reveals how deadly the consequences can be Fortune
Men's age has long been overlooked in fertility Axios
Oscar 'snubs'? Barbie's Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie have already won Fortune
PARTING WORDS
"As an artist, I’ve learned that despite my concerted efforts, I’ll never camouflage anywhere."
—Director Lulu Wang, reflecting on her new series Expats
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