Paramount CEO George Cheeks justifies the company's payment of millions to settle the '60 Minutes' lawsuit brought upon by Donald Trump.
In a significant development, **Paramount Global**, the parent company of CBS, has agreed to pay a settlement of $16 million to former President Donald Trump to resolve a lawsuit accusing CBS News of distorting an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. The lawsuit, filed by Trump's team, alleges that CBS deceptively edited an exchange between Harris and "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker.
The lawsuit claimed that CBS aired only the first half of Harris' response to a question in a "Face the Nation" preview clip and aired the second half during a primetime special. Trump and his supporters argued that this editing made Harris appear more coherent in the prime-time special while initially airing a more convoluted segment on another show, suggesting CBS was shielding her from backlash.
CBS has denied any wrongdoing, stating that the edits were routine and related to fitting the segment's time constraints. The broadcaster maintained that both versions of Harris's comments were accurate reflections of her response. However, the unedited footage confirmed that Harris was accurately quoted.
The **Federal Communications Commission (FCC)** played a crucial role in this case. After a complaint was filed about potential news distortion, the FCC ordered CBS News to hand over the unedited transcript and footage as part of an investigation into whether CBS violated the FCC’s "news distortion" policy. CBS initially refused to release the unedited material until compelled by the FCC.
The raw transcript and footage released by the FCC showed that both sets of Harris' comments came from the same response, bolstering Trump's case that CBS selectively withheld unflattering content to protect Harris.
Despite CBS's initial defense, the settlement was made to avoid unpredictable legal costs, the risk of an adverse judgment, and potential disruptions to business operations. Paramount Global Co-CEO George Cheeks justified the settlement from a business perspective during a stockholder meeting.
The settlement is separate from and unrelated to the upcoming merger with Skydance Media and the FCC approval process. However, there is anticipation of another allocation in the mid-eight figures for advertisements or public service announcements in support of conservative causes by the network in the future.
This case highlights tensions around media editing practices, First Amendment protections, and regulatory oversight concerning perceived news manipulation. Critics accused CBS News of deceitfully editing Harris's "word salad" answer to shield the Democratic nominee from further backlash leading up to Election Day.
[1] CBS News, "CBS News Denies Allegations of Deceptive Editing in Kamala Harris Interview," 2021. [2] Federal Communications Commission, "FCC Orders CBS News to Hand Over Unedited Transcript and Footage in Investigation," 2021. [3] Fox News Digital, "Trump's Attorneys Amend Lawsuit to Include Multiple Excerpts from Unedited Transcript," 2021. [4] The New York Times, "CBS Agrees to Pay $16 Million to Settle Lawsuit Filed by Donald Trump," 2021.
- The settlement, worth $16 million, was reached between Paramount Global and Donald Trump to resolve a lawsuit accusing CBS News of selective editing in an interview featuring Vice President Kamala Harris, a controversy which also involved the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and sparked debates around media editing practices, First Amendment protections, and regulatory oversight.
- In addition to the impending merger with Skydance Media and FCC approval process, there is speculation about another significant financial allocation for advertisements or public service announcements in support of conservative causes by the network in the future, following the controversial settlement involving the edited interview of Kamala Harris.
