Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks insisted on Wednesday that his company needed to settle President Donald Trump’s “election interference” lawsuit in order to avoid unpredictable legal costs, the possibility of an adverse judgment, and disruptions to business operations.
Paramount Global and CBS agreed on Tuesday to pay a sum that could reach north of $30 million to settle the president’s $20 billion lawsuit against CBS over its handling of a “60 Minutes” interview last year with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump will receive $16 million upfront. This will cover legal fees, costs of the case, and contributions to his future presidential library or charitable causes, to be determined at Trump’s discretion.
Cheeks boasted during Wednesday’s stockholder meeting that CBS News wasn’t forced to offer an apology and attempted to justify the settlement from a business perspective.
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“Companies often settle litigation to avoid the high… unpredictable cost of legal defense, the risk of an adverse judgement that can result in significant financial, as well as reputational, damage. And, the disruption of business operations that prolonged legal battles can cause,” Cheeks said.
“Settlement offers a negotiated resolution that allows companies to focus on their core objectives, rather than being mired in uncertainty and distraction,” Cheeks continued.
There is anticipation that there will be another allocation in the mid-eight figures set aside for advertisements, public service announcements or other similar transmissions, in support of conservative causes by the network in the future, Fox News Digital has learned. With these considerations, CBS would pay well in excess of the $15 million ABC paid Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit last year.
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Current Paramount management disputes the additional allocation, but a long-planned multi-billion-dollar merger with Skydance Media is looming.
“This lawsuit is completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process. We will abide by the legal process to defend our case,” Paramount said in a previous statement on the Skydance transaction.
A source familiar with Paramount’s current leadership told Fox News Digital that only the initial $16 million was sanctioned by the official mediator and they had no knowledge of any deal Trump made with incoming ownership.
Skydance Media CEO David Ellison, who would control CBS after the planned merger, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit alleged CBS News deceitfully edited an exchange Harris had with “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker, who asked her why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t “listening” to the Biden administration. Harris was widely mocked for the “word salad” answer that aired in a preview clip of the interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
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However, when the same question aired during a primetime special on the network, Harris had a different, more concise response. Critics at the time accused CBS News of deceitfully editing Harris’ “word salad” answer to shield the Democratic nominee from further backlash leading up to Election Day.
The raw transcript and footage released earlier this year by the FCC showed that both sets of Harris’ comments came from the same response, but CBS News had aired only the first half of her response in the “Face the Nation” preview clip and aired the second half during the primetime special.
CBS News had long denied any wrongdoing and stood by the broadcast and its reporting.
Earlier this year, FCC Chair Brendan Carr ordered CBS News to hand over the unedited transcript as part of its probe into whether the network violated the FCC’s “news distortion” policy after a complaint was filed. CBS had refused to release the unedited transcript until the FCC got involved.
Trump’s attorneys amended their lawsuit to include multiple excerpts from the unedited transcript in hopes of bolstering their case that CBS News withheld unflattering exchanges in order to help the Democratic nominee.
Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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