Another media giant is nearly ready to toss in the towel against President Donald Trump.
CBS News parent company Paramount is in settlement talks with Trump over a suit that some have called a frivolous attempt to chill coverage negative to Trump, The New York Times reports.
The $10 billion lawsuit stems from allegations that CBS edited a “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris to make her look better than Trump, who refused to sit for a similar interview. In his last sit-down with the program in 2020, the president walked off the set in the middle of a contentious interview.
Employees and execs at CBS News aren’t happy with the settlement talks, independent journalist Oliver Darcy reported. Wendy McMahon, head of CBS News, and Bill Owens, the top producer at “60 Minutes,” have expressed disapproval over a settlement.
Trump’s team is the clear underdog in the suit, experts say. Lawfare editor Roger Parloff dismissed it as “frivolous” earlier this month.
“Hard to see CBS settling this suit if not for fear of abuses of power by Trump Adm regulators placing Trump’s personal interests above those of the public,” Parloff said.
Last month, the broadcaster sought to move the case from the historically conservative Northern District of Texas court to the Southern District of New York, the venue in which Paramount and CBS News operate. Trump’s legal team has not yet responded to that request.
But per the Times, Paramount executives want a clean slate with the Trump administration as the company finalizes a merger with Skydance, for which it will need a rubber stamp from Trump’s Federal Communications Commission.
Paramount wouldn’t be the first media company to pay Trump off to preserve future White House relationships. ABC News settled a suit they were likely to win for $15 million late last year, and Meta settled a suit brought when they banned Trump’s accounts after Jan. 6 for $25 million this week.
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