NEWSParamount Pays $16 Million to Settle Donald Trump's '60 Minutes' Lawsuit: Inside the High-Stakes Deal
Paramount paid Donald Trump $16 million over a '60 Minutes' interview.
July 3 2025, Published 8:08 a.m. ET
In a bombshell decision, Paramount Global has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit from President Donald Trump over an October interview featuring Vice President Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes.
The settlement, announced Tuesday, July 1, will direct funds to Trump’s presidential library and entails an agreement to release transcripts of 60 Minutes interviews with presidential candidates after they air, although Paramount will not issue an apology.
Many legal experts believed the lawsuit would be dismissed due to standard industry practices regarding interview editing. However, this settlement clears a significant obstacle for Paramount's merger with Skydance and can expedite regulatory approval.
At the Paramount shareholder meeting Wednesday, July 2, co-CEO George Cheeks addressed the ordeal, stating: "Yes, the company has agreed in principle to settle the lawsuit, and as reported, it does not include an apology."
Donald Trump sued '60 Minutes' over a Kamala Harris interview, which he called 'deceptively edited.'
Cheeks added, "Look, companies often settle litigation to avoid the high and somewhat unpredictable cost of legal defense, the risk of an adverse judgment that could result in significant financial as well as reputational damage, and the disruption to business operations that prolonged legal battles can cause. A settlement offers a negotiated resolution that allows companies to focus on their core objectives, rather than being mired in uncertainty and distraction."
Trump’s lawsuit, filed in October, alleged "deceptive doctoring" of the interview. According to Trump, clips from Harris showed her responding to different questions in the preview and the final broadcast. CBS maintained that it simply edited down her reply for time, asserting that she answered the same question in both instances.
Insiders revealed that Paramount viewed the suit as a potential threat to the completion of its merger with Skydance, which requires regulatory approval including the transfer of FCC licenses. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr mentioned that the 60 Minutes interview will be reviewed during the evaluation period. The FCC has requested the full transcript and unedited footage of the interview.
Executives believe the settlement enhances the odds of securing government approval for the merger, although the FCC could still closely scrutinize the situation.
Paramount’s $16 million settlement with Donald Trump sparked resignations across CBS News and '60 Minutes.'
Within CBS News, rumors of the settlement sparked frustration as it’s common practice to edit interviews for time constraints. On April 22, longtime 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens unexpectedly announced his resignation, citing an inability to make independent decisions for the show.
"Our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger,” correspondent Scott Pelley stated on the newsmagazine’s first episode following Owens’ departure. "The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways. None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires."
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On May 19, CBS News and Stations chief Wendy McMahon also resigned, informing staff of significant disagreements over the company’s future direction.
The resignations of Owens and McMahon sent shockwaves through CBS News amid growing industry concerns regarding the government’s campaign against media over accusations of liberal bias. In a similar situation, ABC News previously settled a defamation lawsuit with Trump for $16 million, indicating that the networks may be making major concessions.
The FCC is reviewing '60 Minutes' footage, as it considers Paramount’s pending merger with Skydance.
In the aftermath of the settlement, 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl shared with David Remnick on The New Yorker Radio Hour that the team is contemplating their next steps. “I’m already beginning to think about mourning, grieving. But I’m holding out hope,” Stahl said. “I know there’s going to be a settlement. I know there’s going to be some money exchanged. I know that. And then we will hopefully still be around, turning a new page, and finding out what that new page is gonna look like.”
Stahl and her colleagues have requested that Tanya Simon be named as Owens’ successor, but no formal decision has been made yet.
The Writers Guild of America East, which represents 60 Minutes and CBS News staff, criticized the settlement and expressed support for the journalists involved. “This settlement is a transparent attempt to curry favors with an administration in the hopes it will allow Paramount Global and Skydance Media merger to be cleared for approval,” the WGAE stated. “Paramount’s decision to capitulate to Trump threatens journalists’ ability to do their job reporting on powerful public figures.”
Trump's lawsuit, which did not allege defamation, was seen as a new strategy by his legal team to intimidate free speech by utilizing the courts. The complaint claimed that the network’s segment with Harris misled the public and attempted to sidestep the legal barriers associated with defamation claims. Trump previously brought a similar case against pollster J. Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register for "brazen election interference" over a poll showing Harris ahead in Iowa.
Journalists and unions condemned Paramount’s decision.
CBS maintained that its editorial decisions are "non-commercial speech that lies wholly outside the scope" of Texas consumer protection laws, further asserting that Trump should have filed the lawsuit in federal court in New York instead of Texas, where judges may be more accommodating to conservative causes.
Trump's influence over regulatory agencies has become a means to deter networks from critical coverage. Carr has threatened to revoke broadcast licenses for companies that have drawn Trump's criticism, though it’s improbable given that no TV station licenses will renew until 2028. However, the long-term implications of avoiding adversarial coverage persist as networks navigate the complex interplay between business interests and journalistic integrity.
