Latest news with #SkydanceMedia
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘60 Minutes' Staff Almost Quit ‘En Masse' Over Trump Suit
Lesley Stahl revealed that she and her fellow 60 Minutes correspondents came close to quitting 'en masse' after their boss left the show with a dire warning about Donald Trump. The 33-year 60 Minutes veteran admitted she was 'angry' with Paramount head Shari Redstone on the Friday episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour. 'It is a frivolous lawsuit,' Stahl said of Trump's $20 billion legal action against CBS News. When host and New Yorker editor David Reminick asked Stahl whether she was 'angry' with Redstone, Stahl admitted, 'Yes, I think I am. I think I am.' Stahl also offered a theory for why Trump pursued the lawsuit against CBS News, in which he is accusing 60 Minutes of 'deceptively editing' Harris' interview to make her look better, in the first place. 'What is really behind it, in a nutshell, is to chill us,' Stahl said. 'There aren't any damages. He accused us of editing Kamala Harris in a way to help her win the election. But he won the election.' Settling the lawsuit would pave the way for Paramount's planned merger with Skydance Media, which would reportedly result in a $530 million personal payout for Redstone—and has to be approved by Trump's FCC officials. Paramount offered Trump $15 million to settle the lawsuit this week, but the president turned it down, citing 'mental anguish' over the Harris interview. He now wants $25 million and an apology to put his complaint to rest. The attempt to settle with Trump over the interview, which staffers have insisted was edited according to its usual standards and was not politically motivated, has caused internal tension at the network, culminating in the shock exits of 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens and CBS News President Wendy McMahon. Stahl said Owens' resignation 'was one of those punches where you almost can't breathe,' calling Owens and McMahon 'barriers' between 'us and the corporation.' Those barriers were tested even before Trump's lawsuit, Stahl recalled Friday. As for what 60 Minutes will be like once out of Redstone's hands at Paramount, Stahl said she's 'Pollyannaish' that Skydance will 'hold the freedom of the press up as a beacon, that they understand the importance of allowing us to be independent and do our jobs.' 'I'm expecting that. I'm hoping that, I want that, I'm praying for that,' Stahl said. 'And I have no reason to think that won't happen.' Reminick asked Stahl to consider what happens if it doesn't, and what it would take for her to follow Owens and McMahon out of the CBS News door. 'It depends,' she said. 'You ask me where my line is. I'm not sure. I don't think I can express what it is, but there is a line. Of course there is a line.' Stahl said that Owens resigning was one of those 'lines' and she and her fellow correspondents actually considering quitting 'en masse.' But their outgoing boss talked them out of it. 'It is hard' to 'have a news organization told by a corporation, 'Do this, do that with your story, change this, change that. Don't run that piece,'' Stahl explained, recounting what it was like to 'quietly resist' Redstone's complaints about 60 Minutes' Gaza coverage. 'The message came down through the line, through Wendy McMahon to Bill,' Stahl said, which she found 'very disconcerting.' 'It steps on the First Amendment. It steps on the freedom of the press. It makes me question whether any corporation should own a news operation,' she continued.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Trump now claims 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris caused him ‘mental anguish'
Donald Trump's legal team claims in a new court filing that the president suffered 'mental anguish' over the 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris at the center of his $20 billion lawsuit against CBS News, arguing that the network is wielding 'the First Amendment as a sword.' In a pair of objections filed in response to the network's motions to dismiss the defamation suit, which legal experts have described as 'frivolous,' the president's lawyers reiterate that Trump was caused personal financial harm by the editing of the interview, claiming that CBS' parent company, Paramount, and Trump Media – which owns Truth Social – are competitors. The latest development in this legal fracas comes after the Wall Street Journal reported Paramount had offered the president $15 million to settle the lawsuit, only for Trump to reportedly demand at least $25 million along with an apology over the interview. Trump also threatened to file another lawsuit accusing the network of biased news coverage, according to the Journal. Even though Paramount's legal team filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit in March, calling it an 'affront to the First Amendment without basis in law or fact,' the company has proposed settling the complaint as it needs the Trump administration's approval to complete an $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. The discussions around a settlement, which Paramount chair Shari Redstone has pushed for ahead of the merger, have resulted in tensions within the network. In recent weeks, 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens and CBS News chief Wendy McMahon, who had made it clear they would not apologize as part of any deal with Trump, abruptly announced their resignations. Meanwhile, mediation sessions between Paramount and Trump's team have stalled over the past month, though the two sides were scheduled to meet again on Thursday. Redstone, meanwhile, has recused herself from the negotiations. On the last day to file an objection, the president's lawyers opposed both of Paramount's motions to dismiss on Wednesday night. Regarding Paramount's efforts to get the lawsuit kicked out of court due to improper venue and lack of personal jurisdiction, the president's legal team rejected the notion that it was 'naked-forum shopping' by filing the case in the Northern District of Texas. Instead, they argued that Trump and his co-defendant Rep. Ronny Jackson (D-TX) have 'sufficient minimum contacts' in the state, and their complaints arise from that. 'The fact that such commercial speech was issued by a news organization does not insulate Defendants from liability under the First Amendment,' the objection states. 'The First Amendment is no shield to news distortion.' As for the motion to dismiss based on failure to state a claim, Trump's lawyers stated that the interview – which the president has asserted was deceitfully edited to make Harris look good and therefore interfere with the election – caused personal damage to both Trump and viewers. 'This led to widespread confusion and mental anguish of consumers, including Plaintiffs, regarding a household name of the legacy media apparently deceptively distorting its broadcasts, and then resisting attempts to clear the public record,' the opposition motion declares. Additionally, the president's team claimed that Paramount and CBS 'seek to wield the First Amendment as a sword, arguing that they cannot be held responsible for illegal conduct, intended to mislead the masses and undertaken in the pursuit of profit, because such conduct was the result of 'editorial judgment.'' 'No matter how many times they claim the conduct at issue was editorial speech, that ipse dixit does not make it so,' the objection adds. While Paramount appears to want to settle the complaint that CBS News has said is 'completely without merit' sooner rather than later, it is also getting its ducks in a row in case the deal with Skydance falls through. According to the Journal, the company is expected to nominate three new directors to the board in the coming weeks to bring the total to seven. Additionally, a current director is expected to step down soon and will also need to be replaced. Though the media conglomerate seems desperate to settle with the president, some executives have expressed concerns that paying the president to make the lawsuit go away could open them up to liability or even criminal charges for bribery. In fact, several Democratic senators have already warned Redstone and Paramount that they could face investigation for violating anti-bribery laws if a settlement with Trump is reached. Furthermore, the Freedom of the Press Foundation has said it intends to sue Paramount if the company settles with the president. Due to those concerns, the board is hoping to keep the settlement amount in the range of other media companies that have recently reached deals with Trump, in hopes that this would minimize any liability. The $15 million that Paramount is reportedly offering Trump, for instance, is the same amount that Disney paid to end his defamation suit against ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos over an interview that saw Stephanopoulos claiming that Trump was found civilly liable for rape rather than sexual abuse.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Trump's rejects CBS's attempt to settle '60 Minutes' lawsuit
President Donald Trump has rejected a multimillion-dollar offer from CBS News to settle his lawsuit over an allegedly doctored 60 Minutes interview. Nearly a month into settlement talks over Trump's explosive $20 billion lawsuit against the network, sources confirm that Paramount Global has quietly offered $15 million to make the scandal disappear. But Trump has blasted the network's proposal as 'not even close,' and is demanding tens of millions more (at least $25 million) together with a formal apology. The lawsuit, filed last October, accuses CBS, its parent company Paramount and its flagship program 60 Minutes of deceptively editing a high-stakes interview with then–Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris just weeks before the 2024 election. Trump alleges the footage was manipulated to 'tip the scales' in Harris's favor and irreparably damage his image with voters. CBS denies the claim and said the broadcast was 'not doctored or deceitful.' It has called the allegations 'completely without merit.' But the legal and political aftershocks are now threatening to derail a much bigger deal: Paramount's $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media, which is currently under review by Trump's Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The rejection of the settlement offer from CBS comes as Trump threatens to block billions in federal approvals for Paramount's merger with Skydance Media and insiders say the president is nowhere near backing down. The footage at the heart of the lawsuit was aired on 60 Minutes in October 2024, and featured CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker interviewing Harris in a prime-time election special. Trump's lawsuit claims CBS selectively removed a series of stammering, confused answers from Harris on topics including the Israel–Hamas war, replacing them with cleaner responses from a different part of the interview. Legal analysts note that the First Amendment gives CBS broad protections, and say the lawsuit likely wouldn't survive in court. But the fear of retaliation from a sitting president - and one who's threatened to revoke broadcast licenses and jail journalists - has changed just how much risk CBS/Paramount are prepared to bear. The lawsuit has now ballooned into one of the largest defamation-related claims ever filed against a media company. CBS is facing a $20 billion damage claim, a federal probe by the FCC into potential 'news distortion,' and a growing internal revolt as journalists accuse Paramount of trying to appease Trump to save the merger. According to The Wall Street Journal, Paramount floated a $15 million offer to Trump's legal team, citing similar settlements in other media-related suits. But Trump's recent victories against other media companies have emboldened him to push CBS harder and demand much more. He not only wants a significantly larger financial payout, but also a formal public apology from CBS News. Trump has already won multi-million dollar settlements from other media companies, including Meta, which paid him $25 million in January, ABC News, which agreed to a $15 million settlement in December and X, which paid $10 million in February. 'This was not just a bad edit,' one source close to the Trump team said. 'It was election interference. You don't settle that quietly.' Paramount, under the leadership of chairwoman Shari Redstone (pictured), has entered mediation to try to resolve the conflict. Redstone, 71, is said to be personally involved in weighing whether to settle quickly even as legal experts warn that any payout could be seen as a 'bribe' to fast-track FCC approval of the Skydance deal. 'If settling Trump's demands looks like a payoff, Paramount could be opening the door to criminal liability and shareholder lawsuits,' one media attorney told The New York Post. 'This is legally radioactive.' The legal saga has already claimed major casualties inside CBS. Wendy McMahon (pictured right), CEO of CBS News, announced her abrupt resignation earlier this month, citing 'differing views on the path forward.' In a memo to staff, she wrote, 'It's become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward. It's time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.' Before her departure, Bill Owens (pictured), longtime executive producer of 60 Minutes, also stepped down, citing concerns over 'editorial independence.' And during a broadcast, anchor Scott Pelley stunned viewers by saying on air that 'Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways,' suggesting interference from corporate leadership. These resignations have deepened fears among CBS journalists that Redstone and the Paramount board are sacrificing the newsroom's integrity to preserve a corporate merger. Sources now say Redstone is prepared to offer up to $50 million to settle the lawsuit and move on with her life, possibly walking away with $2 billion if the Skydance sale is completed. Award-winning television newsmagazine broadcast 60 Minutes, which pulls around 10 million viewers weekly, is a leading target of Trump's offensive against the media. The program has continued to air investigations critical of the Trump administration since his return to the White House. In response, Trump has called for its cancellation, while his billionaire advisor Elon Musk has said he hoped the team behind 60 Minutes would receive long prison sentences.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
US senators warn Paramount's Shari Redstone that settling Trump's CBS lawsuit could be ‘bribery'
Paramount Global is facing fresh heat from Capitol Hill over its talks to settle a $20 billion defamation lawsuit brought by President Trump against CBS News — with three left-leaning US senators warning that a deal could potentially violate US anti-bribery laws. In a letter sent Tuesday night to Paramount Chair Shari Redstone, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) warned that Paramount 'may be engaging in improper conduct involving the Trump administration in exchange for approval of its merger with Skydance Media.' The letter and its contents were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The lawmakers are seeking detailed information about any concessions discussed with Trump, as well as any internal decisions to alter CBS programming — especially related to '60 Minutes,' the network's flagship investigative news show. The lawsuit stems from a 2024 '60 Minutes' interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which Trump claims was deceptively edited to favor her during the campaign. CBS has vigorously denied the accusation, calling the suit 'completely without merit.' 'The American people deserve to know whether media companies are negotiating with public officials in ways that compromise journalistic independence,' the senators wrote. 'Such actions could amount to a violation of federal law.' The timing of the lawsuit is critical. Paramount is seeking regulatory clearance for its proposed $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. Redstone, chair of Paramount Global — CBS's parent company — stands to personally gain roughly $2 billion if the proposed merger with Skydance Media goes through. The Federal Communications Commission, which must approve the deal, is currently chaired by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, raising concerns within the company that the lawsuit could jeopardize the merger unless resolved. Paramount has denied any link between the litigation and the merger's approval process. When reached by The Post, a Paramount spokesperson previously stated that the company would 'abide by the legal process to defend our case,' and declined further comment on the senators' letter. The Post has sought comment from Skydance, the FCC and Trump. CBS News' president and CEO, Wendy McMahon, resigned on Monday following what insiders describe as weeks of internal tension over how to handle the Trump lawsuit and its fallout. As reported by The Post, McMahon had opposed settling the case and was alarmed by what she saw as growing pressure from Paramount to soften CBS's coverage of Trump. Sources told The Post that McMahon was asked to resign over the weekend by CBS CEO George Cheeks, after months of strained relations. In a memo to staff, she wrote: 'It's become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward.' McMahon's departure follows that of longtime '60 Minutes' executive producer Bill Owens, who also resigned amid concerns about editorial independence. One CBS insider told The Post: 'Wendy's exit means the Trump lawsuit mediation must be moving quickly and a deal will be done.' McMahon's tenure at CBS had already been rocky. She oversaw a controversial overhaul of the evening news lineup, removing anchor Norah O'Donnell in favor of lesser-known journalists John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois — decisions that coincided with a ratings slump. The nightly newscast reportedly now averages fewer than 4 million viewers. As of 2025, about 20 to 22 million people watch the evening news across the three major broadcast networks, with ABC's 'World News Tonight' leading at around 9 million viewers, followed by NBC's 'Nightly News' with 6 to 7 million and CBS's 'Evening News' trailing with about 4 million. McMahon also faced backlash after reprimanding anchor Tony Dokoupil for a pointed interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates about the Israel-Hamas conflict — an incident that reportedly drew disapproval from Redstone. Adrienne Roark, a top editorial executive and close McMahon ally, also resigned shortly before McMahon's exit and is expected to take a role at TEGNA. CBS CEO George Cheeks announced that McMahon's duties would be split between CBS News president Tom Cibrowski and CBS Stations president Jennifer Mitchell. In her farewell memo, McMahon described her time at CBS as 'one of the most meaningful chapters in my career,' and praised her colleagues' 'commitment to truth, fairness and the highest standards.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Trump's brutal response to CBS' offer to settle $20 billion 60 Minutes lawsuit
President Donald Trump has rejected a multimillion-dollar offer from CBS News to settle his lawsuit over an allegedly doctored 60 Minutes interview. Nearly a month into settlement talks over Trump's explosive $20 billion lawsuit against the network, sources confirm that Paramount Global has quietly offered $15 million to make the scandal disappear. But Trump has blasted the network's proposal as 'not even close,' and is demanding tens of millions more (at least $25 million) together with a formal apology. The lawsuit, filed last October, accuses CBS, its parent company Paramount and its flagship program 60 Minutes of deceptively editing a high-stakes interview with then–Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris just weeks before the 2024 election. Trump alleges the footage was manipulated to 'tip the scales' in Harris's favor and irreparably damage his image with voters. CBS denies the claim and said the broadcast was 'not doctored or deceitful.' It has called the allegations 'completely without merit.' But the legal and political aftershocks are now threatening to derail a much bigger deal: Paramount's $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media, which is currently under review by Trump's Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The rejection of the settlement offer from CBS comes as Trump threatens to block billions in federal approvals for Paramount's merger with Skydance Media and insiders say the president is nowhere near backing down. The footage at the heart of the lawsuit was aired on 60 Minutes in October 2024, and featured CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker interviewing Harris in a prime-time election special. Trump's lawsuit claims CBS selectively removed a series of stammering, confused answers from Harris on topics including the Israel–Hamas war, replacing them with cleaner responses from a different part of the interview. Legal analysts note that the First Amendment gives CBS broad protections, and say the lawsuit likely wouldn't survive in court. But the fear of retaliation from a sitting president - and one who's threatened to revoke broadcast licenses and jail journalists - has changed just how much risk CBS/Paramount are prepared to bear. The lawsuit has now ballooned into one of the largest defamation-related claims ever filed against a media company. CBS is facing a $20 billion damage claim, a federal probe by the FCC into potential 'news distortion,' and a growing internal revolt as journalists accuse Paramount of trying to appease Trump to save the merger. According to The Wall Street Journal, Paramount floated a $15 million offer to Trump's legal team, citing similar settlements in other media-related suits. But Trump's recent victories against other media companies have emboldened him to push CBS harder and demand much more. He not only wants a significantly larger financial payout, but also a formal public apology from CBS News. Trump has already won multi-million dollar settlements from other media companies, including Meta, which paid him $25 million in January, ABC News, which agreed to a $15 million settlement in December and X, which paid $10 million in February. 'This was not just a bad edit,' one source close to the Trump team said. 'It was election interference. You don't settle that quietly.' Paramount, under the leadership of chairwoman Shari Redstone, has entered mediation to try to resolve the conflict. Redstone, 71, is said to be personally involved in weighing whether to settle quickly even as legal experts warn that any payout could be seen as a 'bribe' to fast-track FCC approval of the Skydance deal. 'If settling Trump's demands looks like a payoff, Paramount could be opening the door to criminal liability and shareholder lawsuits,' one media attorney told The New York Post. 'This is legally radioactive.' The legal saga has already claimed major casualties inside CBS. Wendy McMahon, CEO of CBS News, announced her abrupt resignation earlier this month, citing 'differing views on the path forward.' In a memo to staff, she wrote, 'It's become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward. It's time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.' Before her departure, Bill Owens, longtime executive producer of 60 Minutes, also stepped down, citing concerns over 'editorial independence.' And during a broadcast, anchor Scott Pelley stunned viewers by saying on air that 'Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways,' suggesting interference from corporate leadership. These resignations have deepened fears among CBS journalists that Redstone and the Paramount board are sacrificing the newsroom's integrity to preserve a corporate merger. Shari Redstone, the heiress of CBS parent Paramount Global, has sought to settle the ongoing suit while pursuing a massive media merger with Skydance Sources now say Redstone is prepared to offer up to $50 million to settle the lawsuit and move on with her life, possibly walking away with $2 billion if the Skydance sale is completed. Award-winning television newsmagazine broadcast 60 Minutes, which pulls around 10 million viewers weekly, is a leading target of Trump's offensive against the media. The program has continued to air investigations critical of the Trump administration since his return to the White House. In response, Trump has called for its cancellation, while his billionaire advisor Elon Musk has said he hoped the team behind 60 Minutes would receive long prison sentences.
