NEW YORK (AP) â In a case seen as a challenge to American free-speech principles, Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump over the editing of CBS' â 60 Minutesâ interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in October.
Paramount, which owns CBS, said the money will go to Trumpâs future presidential library, not to the Republican president himself. It said the settlement did not involve an apology.
Trumpâs lawyer said Trump had suffered âmental anguishâ over the editing of the interview by CBS News, while Paramount and CBS rejected his contention that it was edited to enhance how Harris, the Democratic nominee for president in 2024, sounded. They had called Trump's case âcompletely without meritâ and tried to have it dismissed, even while involved in settlement negotiations.
The case was widely discussed and was being seen as a referendum on how far organizations would go to curry favor with Trump. Paramount is simultaneously seeking approval from his administration for its proposed merger with Skydance Media.
A spokesman for Trump's legal team said that with the settlement, Trump âdelivers another win for the American people.â
Paramount agreed that â60 Minutesâ transcripts will be released
In early February, â60 Minutesâ released a full, unedited transcript of the Harris interview.
Under the settlement reached with help of a mediator, Paramount agreed that â60 Minutesâ will release transcripts of future interviews of presidential candidates, âsubject to redactions as required for legal and national security concerns,â CBS News cited the statement as saying.
Trump, who did not agree to be interviewed by â60 Minutesâ during the campaign, protested editing where Harris is seen giving two different answers to a question by the showâs Bill Whitaker in separate clips aired on â60 Minutesâ and âFace the Nationâ earlier in the day. CBS said each reply came within Harrisâ long-winded answer to Whitaker, but was edited to be more succinct.
âThis settlement is a cowardly capitulation by the corporate leaders of Paramount, and a fundamental betrayal of â60 Minutesâ and CBS News,â said Rome Hartman, a producer of the Harris interview for the show. âThe story that was the subject of this lawsuit was edited by the book and in accordance with CBS News standards.â
Correspondents had worried of a settlement with âwrongdoingâ implications
In a letter to Paramount's leadership in early May, â60 Minutesâ correspondents said they were troubled by reports that Paramount might settle the case âin a way that acknowledges some sort of wrongdoing on our part."
The correspondents, in the letter obtained by The Associated Press, said that âif our parent company caves in to his pressure and lies, it will leave a shameful stain and undermine the First Amendment.â It was signed by Whitaker, Lesley Stahl, Scott Pelley, Anderson Cooper, Sharyn Alfonsi, Jon Wertheim and Cecilia Vega.
Trump's lawyer, Edward Andrew Paltzik, said the interview caused confusion and âmental anguish," misleading voters and causing them to pay less attention to Trump and his Truth Social online platform.
Paramount and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone were seeking the settlement with Trump. CBS News President and CEO Wendy McMahon and â60 Minutesâ executive producer Bill Owens, who both opposed a settlement, resigned in recent weeks.
The Freedom of the Press Foundation, a media advocacy group that says it is a Paramount shareholder, has said that it would file a lawsuit in protest if a settlement was reached.
In December, ABC News settled a defamation lawsuit by Trump over statements made by anchor George Stephanopoulos, agreeing to pay $15 million toward Trumpâs presidential library rather than engage in a public fight. Meta reportedly paid $25 million to settle Trumpâs lawsuit against the company over its decision to suspend his social media accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.