Paramount bows to threat from Donald Trump and agrees to pay him $16 million
Faced with threat of losing CBS broadcast license, Paramount opted to pay Donald Trump $16 million
Paramount Global did not tolerate President Donald Trump's threat to revoke the broadcast license of his television network CBS and chose to pay him $16 million.
Last fall, the Republican filed a lawsuit against CBS News and the program “60 Minutes” arguing that, before the November elections, they had aired an interview with Democrat Kamala Harris that was allegedly edited to favor her in the eyes of the public.
“To hide Kamala’s weakness in terms of ‘word salad,’ CBS used its national platform on 60 Minutes to cross the line between the exercise of good judgment in reporting and deceptive and fraudulent manipulation of the news,” part of the lawsuit states.
The complaint was filed in the Northern District Court of Texas demanding $10 billion in damages.
Pressure from the current president’s legal team forced CBS executives to broadcast the full interview with the Californian who aspired to become the first woman to govern from the White House.
“When reporting, journalists regularly edit interviews for time, space, or clarity.
In making these edits, 60 Minutes is always guided by the truth and what we believe is most informative for the public, all within the limitations of broadcast television,” the television network later explained in a statement.
However, the television network's response did not satisfy Donald Trump and on his social media accounts he accused it of “election interference.”
The conservative politician's complaint was joined by a statement from Brendan Carr, president of the Federal Communications Commission, where he agreed that the complaint about the Kamala Harris interview was well-founded because it represents a distortion of the news.
Although Paramount Global intended to fight in court to dismiss the lawsuit, calling it an "affront to the First Amendment," its chances of winning diminished once Donald Trump took office in January.
Furthermore, its interest in a merger with Hollywood giant Skydance, a deal estimated at $28 billion, ultimately favored Donald Trump, as the transaction requires approval from federal regulators.
So, to avoid compromising its interests, it decided to pay $16 million, an amount that will presumably go toward Trump's future library. However, the agreement reached does not include a statement of apology or regret.

