‘60 Minutes’ scandal settled: Paramount forks out $16 mn to Trump, but no apology

CBS parent company Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by US President Donald Trump over a 2023 broadcast of a 60 Minutes interview featuring then-vice president Kamala Harris. The settlement, announced on Wednesday, is the latest example of a media company conceding to Trump amid his ongoing battles with press outlets over allegedly misleading coverage.

The $16 million will go toward Trump’s future presidential library, not to Trump directly or indirectly. Paramount clarified that the settlement does not include an apology or expression of regret.

Trump initially sued CBS for $10 billion in October, accusing the network of deceptively editing Harris’s interview to favor the Democratic Party ahead of the election. He later increased the damages sought to $20 billion in an amended complaint filed in February.

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The lawsuit claimed CBS aired two versions of the same interview in which Harris gave seemingly conflicting responses to a question about the Israel-Hamas war. Trump said this manipulation violated Texas consumer protection laws against deceptive practices.

CBS previously called the lawsuit “completely without merit” and sought its dismissal. The case entered mediation in April.

As part of the settlement, Paramount also agreed that 60 Minutes would release transcripts of interviews with future presidential candidates after airing, with redactions allowed for legal or national security reasons.

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The White House declined to comment. Trump’s lawyer, Edward A. Paltzik, could not be immediately reached.

Media rights groups raised concerns about Trump using consumer protection laws to bypass traditional legal standards for defamation, which require proof of actual malice when the subject is a public figure.

The settlement comes as Paramount works to finalize its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media, which still requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission.

Trump, who has long attacked mainstream media and labels negative stories as “fake news,” had previously threatened to revoke CBS’s broadcast license if elected.

The CBS settlement follows a similar case involving ABC News, which in December agreed to pay $15 million to Trump’s presidential library and issued a public apology after anchor George Stephanopoulos inaccurately said Trump had been found liable for rape.