ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

Another Media Giant is Plotting Massive Settlement with Trump

Top executives are reportedly pushing for the settlement to appease the president in the hopes that his administration might finalize a multibillion-dollar merger.

Representatives at Paramount are reportedly in settlement talks with President Donald Trump after he sued one of its subsidiaries, CBS, for $10 billion in November last year.

Citing three people with knowledge of the discussions, The New York Times reports that settlement talks are currently underway between the two parties—though there’s no guarantee that a deal will actually be reached.

Paramount executives are keen to settle the lawsuit in the hopes that it might appease the president, whose administration holds the ability to squash a multibillion-dollar merger with entertainment company Skydance, the Times reported.

Paramount needs permission from the Federal Communications Commissions to complete the merger, as it owns the broadcasting licenses in question. The FCC is currently being led by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, a fierce supporter of the president.

Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, is particularly supportive of the settlement, according to the Times. The outlet writes that she “stands to clear billions of dollars” if the merger is completed.

Representatives for Paramount did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.

In the 2024 lawsuit, Trump accused CBS of purposefully editing an October 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in a better light to boost her presidential candidacy.

The president was specifically pointing to a portion of the interview where Harris answered a question about conflicts in the Middle East. When CBS aired a preview of the interview on their Sunday morning show, Face the Nation, Harris was shown giving a different answer to the question than what ended up being broadcast in the full-length interview the next day.

Trump accused the team at 60 Minutes of purposely selecting a better quote from Harris to air during prime-time hours.

In a statement, CBS News wrote that Trump’s claims were “false” and that the “interview was not doctored.” They added that “60 Minutes did not hide any part of Vice President Kamala Harris’s answer to the question at issue.”

“60 Minutes fairly presented the interview to inform the viewing audience, and not to mislead it,” they continued. “The lawsuit Trump has brought today against CBS is completely without merit and we will vigorously defend against it.”

In a statement to the Times Thursday, Trump’s lawyer Edward Paltzik said: “Real accountability for CBS and Paramount will ensure that the president is compensated for the harm done to him, and will deter the Fake News from further distorting the facts to advance a partisan agenda. President Trump looks forward to seeing this case through to a just conclusion.”

The president has so far been largely successful in his war against the mainstream media. Last month, ABC News coughed up $15 million to settle a defamation suit with the president, after anchor George Stephanopoulos inaccurately stated that he was found “liable for rape” in a New York civil trial while on air. Trump was actually found liable for sexual abuse.

On Wednesday, Facebook’s parent company Meta also agreed to a $25 million settlement with Trump, after he filed a lawsuit against the company for suspending his accounts from its platforms in 2021.

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Yasmeen HamadehNight News Reporter

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