CBS parent company Paramount on Wednesday settled a lawsuit filed by U.S. President Donald Trump over an interview broadcast in October, the latest concession by a media company to a president who has targeted outlets over what he describes as false or misleading coverage.
Paramount said it would pay $16 million US to settle the suit, with the money allocated to Trump’s future presidential library and not paid to Trump “directly or indirectly.”
“The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret,” a company statement added.
Trump filed a $10-billion US lawsuit against CBS in October, alleging the network deceptively edited an interview that aired on 60 Minutes with then-vice president and presidential candidate Kamala Harris to “tip the scales in favour of the Democratic Party” in the election. In an amended complaint filed in February, Trump bumped his claim for damages to $20 billion.
Trump, who did not agree to be interviewed by 60 Minutes during the campaign, protested editing where Harris is seen giving two different answers to a question about the Israel-Hamas war by the show’s Bill Whitaker in separate clips aired on 60 Minutes and Face the Nation earlier in the day.
CBS said each reply came within Harris’s lengthy answer to Whitaker, but was edited to be more succinct.
Paramount said it also agreed that 60 Minutes would release transcripts of interviews with future U.S. presidential candidates after they aired, subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Texas. Trump alleged CBS’s editing of the interview violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, which makes it illegal to use false, misleading or deceptive acts in commerce.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment. Edward A Paltzik, a lawyer representing Trump in the civil suit, could not be immediately reached for comment.
A spokesperson for Paramount chair Shari Redstone was unavailable for comment.
2 high-profile CBS departures
Media advocacy groups said Trump’s novel use of such laws against news outlets could be a way of circumventing legal protections for the press, which can only be held liable for defamation against public figures if they say something they knew or should have known was false.
CBS previously said the lawsuit was “completely without merit” and had asked a judge to dismiss the case.
Bill Owens, only the third executive producer in the 57-year history of 60 Minutes, resigned in April, saying he no longer felt he had the independence to run the program as he had in the past.
CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon left the network in May, saying in an email to staff that “it’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward. It’s time to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.” Like Owens, McMahon had made clear she opposed settling with Trump,
The settlement comes as Paramount prepares for an $8.4-billion US merger with Skydance Media, which will require approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
On the campaign trail last year, Trump threatened to revoke CBS’s broadcasting licence if elected.
The Paramount settlement follows a decision by Walt Disney-owned ABC News to settle a defamation case brought by Trump. As part of that settlement, made public on Dec. 14, the network donated $15 million US to Trump’s presidential library and publicly apologized for comments by anchor George Stephanopoulos, who inaccurately said Trump had been found liable for rape.
It also follows a second settlement, by Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms, which on Jan. 29 said it had agreed to pay about $25 million US to settle a lawsuit by Trump over the company’s suspension of his accounts after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump has vowed to pursue more claims against the media.
On Dec. 17, he filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register newspaper and its former top pollster over its poll published on Nov. 2 that showed Harris leading Trump by three percentage points in Iowa. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an order barring the Des Moines Register from engaging in “ongoing deceptive and misleading acts and practices” related to polling.
A Des Moines Register representative said the organization stands by its reporting and that the lawsuit was without merit.
