Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump that had alleged an interview that aired on CBS’s “60 Minutes” last year with Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent for the presidency, was deceptively edited.
The agreement in principle, proposed by a mediator, includes plaintiffs’ fees and costs and — except for fees and costs — will be allocated to Trump’s future presidential library, Paramount Global said in a statement late Tuesday. Paramount is the parent company of CBS.
The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of Texas and sought $20 billion in damages.
“The settlement will include a release of all claims regarding any CBS reporting through the date of the settlement, including the Texas action and the threatened defamation action,” the statement read.
Neither CBS News nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.
Trump added his former doctor, Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-TX, as a plaintiff to the suit in February, the Los Angeles Times reported. Under the settlement, Paramount said in its statement, neither the president nor Jackson would personally receive direct or indirect payment.
Paramount also said it agreed that in the future “60 Minutes” will release transcripts of interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after the interviews have aired, “subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns.”
“The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret,” the company said.
The proposed settlement comes as Paramount seeks to complete an $8 billion merger with media production group Skydance Media.
Paramount on Tuesday pointed to a previous statement regarding the Skydance merger. “This lawsuit is completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process,” it said. “We will abide by the legal process to defend our case.”
The merger requires approval from the Trump administration, a situation that has led to tensions at CBS News that have spilled out into the open.
In May, Wendy McMahon resigned as head of CBS News, saying in a memo that “the company and I do not agree on the path forward.” That resignation followed the departure in April of Bill Owens, a top producer at “60 minutes.” In a memo to staff members, Owens said his journalistic independence had been hamstrung over the previous months.
