Last week, Megyn covered a confidential defamation settlement between NBC Universal and a Georgia doctor who was repeatedly called a “uterus collector” by MSNBC.
The cable network ran multiple reports in September 2020 with allegations against gynecologist Mahendra Amin, MD, claiming he performed unnecessary mass hysterectomies at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the state.
The accusations started with an advocacy group called Project South, who published an open letter to the Department of Homeland Security criticizing conditions at the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) in Georgia, which, at the time, was run by ICE and had detained migrants staying there. The letter was primarily about the lack of COVID precautions, but it also included shocking allegations from a nurse named Dawn Wooten. She claimed a doctor was performing hysterectomies on nearly every patient he saw, calling him “the uterus collector.”
NBC News published an article about Wooten’s accusations almost immediately, and MSNBC took up the story soon after with Nicolle Wallace, Chris Hayes, and Rachel Maddow all covering the report on their shows. Maddow read directly from the shocking claim in which Wooten alleged “just about” every patient Dr. Amin saw had a hysterectomy regardless of whether they needed one.
But there was just one problem. It wasn’t true. Dr. Amin only performed two hysterectomies on detainees at that ICE facility, and they were both medically necessary. He filed a $30 million defamation lawsuit against NBC Universal and the parties struck a settlement in February after discovery showed there had significant doubts internally about whether this was true, even as they presented the allegations to their audience without reflecting those serious doubts. The lawsuit was officially dismissed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Dr. Amin’s attorney, Stacey Evans, to discuss the false accusations against her client, the concerns within NBC News about the reporting, and the network settled before going to trial.
The Lawsuit and Settlement
Evans breaks down the defamation lawsuit she filed on behalf of her client, the truth about the allegations that were acknowledged behind the scenes at NBC, why they were able to settle based on what was found in discovery, and more.
Potential Motivations
Megyn and Evans discuss how discovery showed MSNBC knew the reporting had major red flags, why they may have aired it anyway, what else was going on politically at the time, and more.
The Megyn Kelly Show reached out to NBC Universal for comments and has not heard back.
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Evans by tuning in to episode 1,050 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.