Agreement removes obstacle to CBS and Paramount Pictures parent company completing $8 billion merger with Skydance Media.
Paramount Global said late Tuesday that the company willl pay $16 million to President Donald Trump to settle a lawsuit tied to “60 Minutes,” betting that the payment will help the company’s fortunes and speed a planned deal with Skydance Media even if it risks tarnishing one of the media giant’s most storied brands.
Paramount said in a statement that it had agreed to pay $16 million to President Trump to settle his lawsuit accusing CBS‘ “60 Minutes” of deceptively editing an interview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris and misleading U.S. voters, even though both the company and legal experts had said that Trump’s position in the matter was weak.
At issue was the October 2024 “60 Minutes” interview between correspondent Bill Whitaker and Democratic candidate Harris, presented on a special edition of “60 Minutes” four weeks before the 2024 election. Trump allegations, filed in federal court in the Northern District of Texas in November, claimed that “60 Minutes” tried to mislead voters by airing two different edits of remarks made in the interview with Harris, then Trump’s rival for the White House. CBS has sought to have the case thrown out. The Federal Communications Commission subsequently opened an investigation into the matter, and CBS and Trump attorneys engaged a mediator. Paramount has scheduled its annual corporate meeting with investors for Wednesday, where it is expected to elect several new directors.
Trump’s co-plaintiff in the case was U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, a conservative House member whose presence allowed Trump to steer the case to a receptive federal judge in Amarillo, Texas, U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk. The lawsuit was filed five days before Trump won the 2024 presidential election, returning him to the White House just four years after he was defeated by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump’s crusade against CBS and “60 Minutes” has amounted to an extraordinary and disturbing flex of political power by a sitting president.
Meanwhile, Paramount Global’s handling of the matter sparked anger and dismay at CBS News. Top producers at “60 Minutes” felt Paramount overseers, including controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, had begun inserting themselves into the show’s editing process and story selection, even asking news leaders if certain stories tied to analysis of Trump’s recent policies had to run. Bill Owens, just the third executive producer of the venerable newsmagazine, announced he would leave the show in April, and the CBS executive who supervised its national news division and local stations, Wendy McMahon, exited in May.
According to Paramount, the settlement “does not include a statement of apology or regret,” and that decision may help the company navigate what are likely to be furious reactions from its news personnel. CBS News staffers, producers and correspondents at “60 Minutes” have made clear that the thought of the show offering an apology for conducting an interview with Harris at a key moment would be anathema to anyone in journalism. Trump turned down the opportunity to take part in an interview with the show ahead of the election.
None of the money will be “paid directly or indirectly to President Trump,” but will instead go toward his presidential library. The company also agreed that its venerable newsmagazine would, in the future, release transcripts of interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after such interviews have aired, “subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns.”
Trump’s legal team said in a statement that Paramount Global and CBS “realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle.” Trump not surprisingly cast the settlement as vindication for the litigation that has been decried as political extortion by legal scholars and First Amendment advocates. The statement includes Trump’s familiar attack on “Fake News” and falsely asserts that Paramount was culpable for “lying” to the public.
“With this record settlement, President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit,” the statement read. “President Trump will always ensure that no one gets away with lying to the American People as he continues on his singular mission to Make America Great Again.”