Paramount pays $16 million to settle Trump lawsuit over ‘60 Minutes’ interview

Paramount Global has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by U.S. President Donald Trump over a CBS “60 Minutes” interview, with the funds allocated to his future presidential library.

The settlement, reached on Wednesday, concludes a months-long legal dispute over a broadcast interview with the then-vice president Kamala Harris, which Trump alleged was deceptively edited to favour the Democratic Party. Paramount did not issue an apology or admit wrongdoing.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Texas last October, originally sought $10 billion in damages, later increased to $20 billion. Trump claimed that CBS aired conflicting versions of Harris’s comments on the Israel-Hamas war, which he said misled voters and violated Texas consumer protection laws.

CBS, a division of Paramount, had previously described the claims as “completely without merit” and sought to have the case dismissed.

Paramount said the $16 million settlement would be directed to Trump’s planned presidential library and “not paid to Trump directly or indirectly.” It also agreed that future '60 Minutes' interviews with presidential candidates would be accompanied by post-broadcast transcripts, subject to legal or national security redactions.

The mediation process began in April. A spokesperson for Paramount Chair Shari Redstone did not comment, and The White House did not respond to media queries. Trump’s lawyer Edward A Paltzik was not immediately available.

The deal marks another high-profile media concession to Trump. In December, ABC News settled a defamation case with a $15 million donation to the Trump library and issued a public apology for a misstatement by anchor George Stephanopoulos. Meta Platforms also paid $25 million to settle a lawsuit over Trump’s account suspensions following the 2021 Capitol riot.

The Paramount settlement comes as the company seeks regulatory approval for an $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media. Trump, on the campaign trail, has previously threatened to revoke CBS’ broadcasting licence if re-elected.

Media law experts have raised concerns that Trump’s use of consumer protection statutes to pursue media organisations could test the limits of press freedoms in the U.S., where defamation cases involving public figures typically require proof of actual malice.

Separately, Trump is pursuing legal action against the Des Moines Register over a pre-election poll. That case, initially filed in federal court, was refiled in Iowa state court on 30 June.

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