VanderSloot Settles Defamation Suit with Former Reporter

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Idaho businessman Frank VanderSloot has reached a settlement with a former Post Register reporter he sued for defamation.

The Idaho Falls newspaper reports that Peter Zuckerman apologized to VanderSloot in an affidavit on Monday, stating that he made some untrue statements in a 2012 appearance on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show." Zuckerman was no longer working for the Post Register when he made the statements to Maddow. While on the show, Zuckerman said he faced harassment after VanderSloot took out a full-page advertisement in the newspaper criticizing the reporter's work covering child sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts.

The ad mentioned that Zuckerman is gay, and Zuckerman claimed VanderSloot outed him. Zuckerman now says he should have been clearer about the timing of the harassment because some occurred before the ad was published, and that two radio commentators discussed his sexual orientation the week before the ad. Details about the settlement have not been disclosed.