Paramount Global, CBS News’ parent company, agreed to settle President Trump’s “60 Minutes” lawsuit for $16 million.
Paramount announced the settlement late Tuesday night, CNN reported. The company said that the $16 million âincludes plaintiffsâ fees and costs,â and will be allocated to Trumpâs future presidential library, rather than be paid to Trump directly. ABC had struck a similar settlement agreement with Trump last year.
âThe settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret,â Paramount said.
The company added that âin the future, â60 Minutesâ will 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.â
Paramount Global was sued by Trump for $20 billion over CBS News allegedly deceptively editing a “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris last year, who at the time of the interview was also the Democratic nominee in the presidential race.
Trump had originally sued CBS News for $10 billion in October, but then added Paramount to the lawsuit in February and upped the amount to $20 billion.
Amid Trump’s lawsuit, Paramount has been attempting to complete a multibillion-dollar merger with entertainment company Skydance that needs to be approved by the Trump administration.
Paramount said Tuesday that âthis lawsuit is completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the [Federal Communications Commission] approval process. We will abide by the legal process to defend our case.â
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has repeatedly said that his merger review process is separate from the lawsuit. However, before his promotion to chairman, the Trump appointee said complaints over the â60 Minutesâ edit would be âlikely to ariseâ as part of the FCCâs merger review.
Over the course of the lawsuit, CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon announced in May that she would resign over differences with the network’s corporate ownership. A month earlier, the executive producer for “60 Minutes” said he was stepping down from his role because he could no longer objectively oversee the show as it faces backlash over Trump’s lawsuit.
