CBS parent company Paramount has entered discussions with President Donald Trump to settle a $10 billion lawsuit brought by the president
Trump sued after CBS aired an edited interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, who at the time was Trump’s opponent in the presidential race.
The Times reported that Shari Redstone, who is Paramount’s controlling shareholder, stands to make billions on a pending sale of the company to Skydance:
Settlement discussions between representatives of Paramount and Mr. Trump are now underway, according to three people with knowledge of the talks. There is no assurance, though, that they will result in a deal, and it is unclear what the terms of any such deal might include.
Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, strongly supports the effort to settle, according to two people with knowledge of her thinking. Ms. Redstone stands to clear billions of dollars on the sale of Paramount, the media empire founded by her father Sumner Redstone, in a deal with Skydance, an entertainment company backed by the billionaire Larry Ellison and run by his son David.
A settlement would be an extraordinary concession by a major U.S. media company to a sitting president, especially in a case in which there is no evidence that the network got facts wrong or damaged the plaintiff’s reputation.
The heart of Trump’s lawsuit centers on a question directed at Harris about the Middle East from Bill Whitaker. A preview of her response aired during Face the Nation was different from the response viewers of 60 Minutes saw. Trump’s lawyers argued CBS made Harris look better in primetime by airing a crisper response.
“CBS News said that Ms. Harris had given one lengthy answer to Mr. Whitaker’s question, and that the network followed standard journalistic practice by airing a different portion of her answer in prime-time because of time constraints,” the Times said.
