Paramount settles Trump’s lawsuit over edited Kamala Harris interview, paying $16M amid its pending Skydance merger and growing media legal tensions.
Paramount Global has opted to pay $16 million to President Donald Trump to settle his lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” segment, rather than continuing to litigate what it had characterized as a “meritless” claim.
Trump’s suit accused the program of deceptively editing an October 2024 interview with Kamala Harris under Texas consumer-protection law and alleged that the excerpt made Harris appear “more presidential” than she really was, thereby misleading voters.
In exchange for the payment—which will go to Trump’s presidential library rather than to him or his co-plaintiff, Rep. Ronny Jackson—Paramount secured a broad release of claims covering all CBS reporting up to the settlement date, including earlier actions in Texas and threatened defamation suits.
Under the settlement’s terms, “60 Minutes” has agreed to release transcripts of any future interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after airing, with only legally or security-necessary redactions.
Paramount stressed that the deal does not include any apology or admission of fault; indeed, prior filings had emphatically denied wrongdoing, labeling Trump’s initial $10 billion—and later amended $20 billion—damages demand as baseless and an affront to the First Amendment.
The timing of the settlement appears linked to Paramount’s broader strategic priorities. The company is pursuing final U.S. regulatory clearance for its $8 billion merger with Skydance Media, a deal that would create “Paramount Skydance Corp.”
under the control of Skydance CEO David Ellison, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and RedBird Capital.
Controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, who wields 77 percent of voting power, is reportedly keen to resolve the lawsuit ahead of Paramount’s July 2 annual shareholder meeting—at which three new directors supportive of the transaction are slated to join the board.
This marks the second major media-company settlement with Trump in recent months.
In December 2024, Disney and ABC News paid a combined $16 million (including legal fees) to end Trump’s defamation suit over an ABC broadcast in which anchor George Stephanopoulos mistakenly said Trump had been found liable for “rape.”
That case followed a civil verdict finding Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.
Critics—including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Ron Wyden—had warned that paying a sitting president could resemble an illegal bribe, though no DOJ prosecution has materialized.
Industry observers warn the Paramount settlement may dampen morale at CBS News and “60 Minutes,” where the legal dustup already precipitated the resignations of both “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens and CBS News president Wendy McMahon.
There is also concern that Trump, buoyed by these outcomes, may pursue further litigation against other outlets; indeed, he has recently threatened suits against the New York Times, CNN, and the Des Moines Register over coverage he deems unfavorable or inaccurate.
As Paramount and CBS News insisted throughout, the original broadcast and its promotion were neither doctored nor deceitful.
Nevertheless, the settlement underscores the growing litigation risk facing legacy news organizations in the era of hyper-partisan grievance and raises questions about the balance between editorial discretion, consumer-protection statutes, and the free-speech protections afforded to journalistic entities.
Source Variety
