Paramount and Trump Reach $16M Settlement over ‘60 Minutes’ Interview

• Settlement reached as Paramount gets ready for merger.
• Trump initiated a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS last October.
• No formal apology or acknowledgment of wrongdoing was included in the settlement.

NEW YORK: Paramount, the parent company of CBS, announced on Wednesday that it has settled a lawsuit brought by former President Donald Trump, stemming from a controversial interview that was aired in October. This marks yet another instance of a media company conceding to a president who has frequently criticized news outlets for what he believes is inaccurate reporting.

As part of the settlement, Paramount will pay $16 million, which will go towards funding Trump’s future presidential library. However, the company made it clear that this money will not be given to Trump “either directly or indirectly.”

“The settlement does not include any statement of apology or regret,” the company added in its statement.

Trump had previously filed a lawsuit seeking $10 billion in damages from CBS, claiming the network edited the interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris aired on its “60 Minutes” program in a way that unfairly favored the Democratic Party during the election. In a subsequent amendment submitted in February, Trump increased his damage claim to $20 billion.

The lawsuit alleged that CBS presented two different versions of the Harris interview, where she seemed to provide inconsistent answers to the same question regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to documents filed in federal court in Texas.

To date, CBS asserted that the lawsuit was “entirely baseless” and requested that a judge dismiss the case.

There has been no immediate comment from the White House regarding a request for clarification from Reuters. Additionally, Edward A. Paltzik, the attorney representing Trump in this civil matter, was unreachable for comments.

A spokesperson for Paramount’s Chair, Shari Redstone, was also not available for a statement.

Negotiations for mediation began in April.

Trump contended that CBS’s editing of the interview breached the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits engaging in false, misleading, or deceptive practices in trade.

Media advocacy groups have cautioned that Trump’s novel application of such laws against media organizations may pose a risk to press freedom, as it challenges the traditional legal protections that shield news outlets from being held liable for defamation claims made by public figures unless they intentionally disseminated false information.

This settlement occurs as Paramount is gearing up for an $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media, a deal that will need approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

During his campaign last year, Trump suggested he might pursue the revocation of CBS’s broadcast license if he were elected.

Trump has consistently criticized the media, often labeling unfavorable stories as “fake news.”

The agreement with Paramount follows a similar resolution by Walt Disney-owned ABC News, which opted to settle a defamation case initiated by Trump. As part of that agreement, revealed on December 14, the network contributed $15 million to Trump’s presidential library and publicly apologized for inaccurate remarks made by anchor George Stephanopoulos, who had mistakenly stated that Trump was liable for rape.

Another recent settlement occurred when Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms, agreed on January 29 to pay around $25 million to resolve a lawsuit filed by Trump regarding the suspension of his accounts following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Trump has expressed intentions to continue pursuing legal claims against the media.

On December 17, he filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register newspaper and its leading pollster regarding a poll published on November 2 that indicated Harris was ahead of Trump by three percentage points in Iowa. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and demands that the Des Moines Register cease any “ongoing deceptive and misleading acts and practices” concerning polling.

A representative of the Des Moines Register maintained that the organization stands by its reporting, characterizing the lawsuit as lacking merit.

On June 30, Trump withdrew the federal lawsuit and reintroduced it in an Iowa state court.