Paramount Global has agreed to settle the CBS lawsuit with President Donald Trump in an astonishing decision. President Donald Trump, considered frivolous by legal experts, pays $16 million and believes the observer will clear the path to a merger with parent company SkyDance.
Under the agreement announced late Tuesday, payments will be sent to Trump’s presidential library and will not be paid directly or indirectly to Trump. As the settlement did not include apologies or regrets, Global agreed to release a future transcript of interviews with eligible US presidential candidates after the interviews to be edited were aired.
Paramount Global Co-CEO George Cheeks defended the settlement at its annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday morning (July 2) when seven directors, including control of shareholder Shari Redstone and three new members, were elected to the board.
Cheek added to investors that the company settled to avoid the “unpredictable” costs of legal defense, “The company added:
The settlement is seen as another example of a media organization that kneels before an incumbent in the White House, who is at war against universities and other institutions, US states and cities, law firms and media companies. Last December, Disney paid $15 million to settle a honour-loss lawsuit filed by Trump.
Trump filed his CBS case last October after the network aired a pre-election interview with then-Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris Face the country And aired a more concise version of her answer to questions about Gaza 60 Min Please show me the next day. Trump said the editor was deceptive and designed to benefit Harris and damage him.
CBS said Trump’s team rejected the offer of interviews around the same time, claiming that the editor was a standard journalistic practice. Trump’s lawyers have sought $20 billion in damages and urged commentary from legal experts who said the case had no merit.
In March, CBS and Paramount Global filed a motion to dismiss the case, calling it a “First Amendment humiliation” protecting freedom of speech. The parties then appointed mediators to explore the settlement.
In a statement Tuesday night, Paramount Global said: “This lawsuit is completely separate and irrelevant from the Skydance transaction and the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) approval process. We adhere to the legal process to protect the lawsuit.”
However, observers believe Redstone is ready to settle for a $8 billion Skydance deal at the finish line. FCC Chair Brendan Kerr said the lawsuit was not a factor in the Skydance merger review.
Writers Guild of America East said he was standing behind the members’ work 60 minutes And CBS News added: “I hope Paramount Global had the courage to do the same thing… Paramount’s decision to surrender to Trump threatens the ability of journalists to report their work on powerful public figures.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for an investigation and said he would introduce legislation to reduce corruption through donations from the Presidential Library.
April 60 minutes Executive producer Bill Owens resigned from the issue, and the following month’s news president Wendy McMahon was kicked out.
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