Paramount agreed late Tuesday to pay President Donald Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit over CBS News' editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris.
The backdown without much of a public fight from CBS News left critics staggered.
The settlement includes Trump's legal fees, with remaining funds going to his future presidential library. Paramount also agreed to release written transcripts of future "60 Minutes" interviews with presidential candidates, though the deal notably did not include an apology. Details were reported by the New York Times.
Trump's legal team called the settlement "another win for the American people," saying the president was holding "the fake news media accountable." The spokesman added that "CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle."
The lawsuit stemmed from CBS's editing of Harris's lengthy response about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a pre-election sit-down. The network aired 21 seconds of her answer on "Face the Nation," but used a different seven-second portion on "60 Minutes."
Trump claimed this constituted "news distortion" aimed at helping Democrats.
Many experts had dismissed the $10 billion lawsuit as baseless, believing CBS would prevail given First Amendment protections. However, Paramount chair Shari Redstone had told confidants that she was exploring a settlement, viewing the lawsuit as a potential obstacle to the company's multibillion-dollar sale to Skydance, which requires Trump administration approval.
"When cementing the Paramount/Skydance deal is more important than defiling the CBS News brand," wrote media expert and former CBS News employee John Goodman on X.
"60 Minutes did nothing wrong & the settlement doesn't include an apology."
Political commentator Brian Krassenstein wrote, "In other words, they were extorted and caved."
The lawsuit roiled CBS News, contributing to significant personnel changes. Executive producer Bill Owens resigned in April, saying he "would not be allowed" to make independent journalistic decisions. CBS News president Wendy McMahon was later forced out, stating it had "become clear the company and I do not agree on the path forward."
Veteran "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley warned that any settlement would be "very damaging to CBS, to Paramount, to the reputation of those companies."
The $16 million settlement matches what ABC News paid Trump in December to resolve a defamation case involving anchor George Stephanopoulos. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have warned that such payments could be construed as bribes and threatened congressional hearings.
After the ABC News settlement, Late Night star Stephen Colbert warned, "He's just going to keep coming back for more."
