Paramount Global has agreed to pay $16 million to resolve a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump over a CBS "60 Minutes" interview, ending a months-long legal and political dispute that has roiled the network amid its pending merger with Skydance Media.
The settlement, confirmed by Paramount late Tuesday, will not result in any personal payout to Trump. Instead, the funds will be directed toward the future Trump Presidential Library or other related entities, mirroring the terms of a separate $15 million settlement Disney's ABC reached with Trump in December. Paramount emphasized that no apology or admission of wrongdoing was included in the agreement.
"The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret," Paramount said in its announcement, while adding that in the future, "'60 Minutes' will release transcripts of interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after such interviews have aired, subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns."
Trump's lawsuit stemmed from an October 2024 "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, where he alleged CBS deceptively edited her response to a question about Israel to favor Democrats and harm his campaign. CBS initially defended its editorial decision as a routine time edit, but later released full transcripts and raw footage under pressure from the FCC. The materials revealed no alteration of substance in Harris's comments.
Still, the legal case became a significant liability for Paramount as it sought federal approval for its merger with Skydance Media, which would place CBS under the control of David Ellison. FCC Chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, had previously warned that complaints related to "60 Minutes" could surface in the FCC's merger review process. Though Carr later said the case was separate from the Skydance review, analysts saw the legal dispute as politically consequential.
Paramount maintained that the lawsuit and the merger were "completely separate," but critics and insiders noted the timing of the settlement aligned with growing regulatory scrutiny. "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.
The original complaint, filed before Trump's reelection, sought $20 billion in damages and accused CBS of election interference and consumer fraud under Texas law. Trump alleged that two distinct Harris soundbites-one on "Face the Nation" and another on "60 Minutes"-were crafted to mislead viewers. Critics accused CBS of shielding Harris from backlash over what was dubbed a "word salad" answer.
CBS insiders called the lawsuit "extortion." One veteran "60 Minutes" producer told Fox News Digital, "The unanimous view at '60 Minutes' is that there should be no settlement, and no money paid, because the lawsuit is complete bulls---."
Nevertheless, the political and corporate pressure mounted. Trump's legal team declared victory, stating: "CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle."
While the $16 million payment is official, sources close to the matter indicated that an additional mid-eight figure allocation for promotional content or public service messaging favorable to conservative causes may follow. Paramount denied that such an agreement was in place.
The fallout inside CBS was significant. "60 Minutes" executive producer Bill Owens resigned in April, citing loss of editorial independence. Scott Pelley, one of the show's leading correspondents, said on-air that executives had begun to "supervise our content in new ways." CBS News President Wendy McMahon also stepped down in May, writing in a memo to staff that "the company and I do not agree on the path forward."
The settlement agreement includes a "release of all claims regarding any CBS reporting through the date of the settlement," effectively shielding CBS from further legal exposure tied to Trump's allegations. Still, critics said the move sets a troubling precedent.
"This is not worth 20 million dollars, or even 20 cents," the Freedom of the Press Foundation said before the settlement. "It's beyond frivolous-and that's saying something given the myriad frivolous lawsuits Trump has filed."
