Far from putting the controversy to rest, Paramount Global’s settlement of Donald Trump’s lawsuit over “60 Minutes” can be seen as a preview of coming attractions, setting up the entertainment company for more headaches, either with Trump or its talent. It’s a reminder that when it comes to a litigious president eager to use levers of government to pursue personal agendas, media owners might want to be careful what they wish for.
In this case that new owner is likely to be Skydance Media, backed by tech billionaire Larry Ellison and run by his son David, the Skydance CEO.
Given the widely-held assumption that the $16 million settlement was intended to grease the wheels to earn approval of the $8 billion Paramount-Skydance merger, the Ellisons would outwardly appear to have won.
The real headline for them, though, might be “Welcome to the circus,” with all the future headaches that the settlement might bring to their Paramount stewardship. While it’s not the first media company to bend the knee to Trump, the stature of CBS News and “60 Minutes” is the sort of symbolic blow to journalism that means the deal will draw extra scrutiny.
Early signs of potential fallout were already in evidence Wednesday, offering a taste of running a studio that not only operates a news division Trump despises but employs late-night comics Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart (whose shows are mercifully dark this week), along with other high-profile fare like “South Park,” all with the ability to get under Trump’s famously thin skin.
Notably, the producers of “South Park” have already criticized the merger as a “s–tshow,” on the heels of a decision to delay its new-season premiere.
The problem with employing millionaire comedians and entertainers, alas, is that they have a perverse way of biting the hands that feed them, and exulting in doing so.
As media mogul Barry Diller sympathetically noted, Paramount chair Shari Redstone faced an impossible mission not of her own making or choosing, and the seemingly inevitable (or at least long-anticipated) resolution of Trump’s lawsuit against CBS and “60 Minutes” managed to please no one, except perhaps a litigious president who, based on history, is seldom mollified by displays of weakness.
Simply put, the Paramount merger had a gun to its head, and the company chose to pay the ransom.
Given that, will the new management cave the next time Trump complains, and are they ready — even after observing Redstone’s tortured example — for the public-relations disaster they’ll face if they do? And is anyone naive enough to think Trump’s friendship with Larry Ellison will be enough to stave off, or at least defuse, such flare-ups?
Of course, Redstone had plenty of company in the staging of this journalistic tragedy/farce, beginning with Trump, who has again revealed his contempt for the First Amendment; and yes, the Ellisons, who could have spoken out forcefully in stating their commitment to CBS News but opted not to, while reportedly seeking to leverage Larry Ellison’s relationship with Trump behind the scenes. (Trump has spoken enthusiastically about the Ellisons taking over at Paramount, for whatever that’s worth.)
Redstone finally took the expected step — ignoring warnings and pleas from CBS News, “60 Minutes’” high-profile talent, journalism experts and several U.S. senators — by agreeing to settle Trump’s frivolous lawsuit over a pre-election profile of then-rival Kamala Harris. By doing so, she clearly hoped to smooth the way for the merger, which will allow her to parachute out of the company she inherited from her father, Sumner, not a moment too soon.
In the small-achievements department, the settlement did not include an apology or admission of wrongdoing, not that such distinctions will matter once Trump has put the story through his social media blender. For Trump and his loyalists, it will be hailed as another victory over the hated “liberal media,” just one more log to fuel the fire that produces enough smoke to obscure truth and facts. Let the gloating begin.
🚨 BREAKING: CBS’ parent company has just agreed to pay President Trump $16 MILLION after they deceptively edited Kamala’s 60 Minutes interview
Another HUGE legal win for Trump 🔥
Within the past several months, he’s been paid:
✅ $16 MILLION by ABC
✅ $25 MILLION by Meta
✅… pic.twitter.com/8mK55G0fkW— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 2, 2025
While the long-term impact is more difficult to discern, the settlement has dealt another reputational blow to CBS News as the Ellisons prepare to take over, diminishing “60 Minutes,” one of Paramount’s prized assets, and demoralizing the program’s reporters and staffers.
“Paramount’s decision to settle a meritless lawsuit rather than stand behind its journalists at CBS News is a spineless capitulation,” PEN America, the literary and human rights organization, said in a statement that summed up much of the response as denunciations rolled in Wednesday.
Even if the terms aren’t as onerous as some feared, the settlement feels like another terrible precedent, softened only in part by other media companies that already made nice with the president. That hall of shame includes Meta — which paid $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit over banning Trump from Facebook after the Jan. 6 insurrection — and Disney’s ABC, which shelled out $15 million to make Trump’s defamation suit over George Stephanopoulos’ characterization of the E. Jean Carroll case go away.
Those actions have merely exposed both the transactional nature of dealing with Trump and the extent to which Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr has appeared willing to use the threats of investigations and regulatory oversight as a cudgel, as fellow commissioner Anna Gomez has noted.
Mincing few words, nine U.S. senators wrote Redstone in May warning that any settlement could be tantamount to bribery, stating, “Under the federal bribery statute, it is illegal to corruptly give anything of value to public officials to influence an official act. If Paramount officials make these concessions in a quid pro quo arrangement to influence President Trump or other Administration officials, they may be breaking the law.”
Whether the agreement meets the legal definition of that — and attorneys have expressed skepticism that it would — it’s hard to quibble with the optics, spirit or precedent it sets.
“Paramount’s decision will only embolden Trump to continue attacking, suing and intimidating the media which he has labeled ‘the enemy of the people,’” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-VT. “It is a dark day for independent journalism and freedom of the press — an essential part of our democracy.”
Utterly appalling.
The “case” was completely baseless.
Paramount settled so that they could get their merger approved
Simple and plain.https://t.co/xoCX4Bqi8s
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) July 2, 2025
CBS has already endured a steady drip of departures as the “60 Minutes” controversy has played out, including executive producer Bill Owens and CBS News president Wendy McMahon, who chose not to preside over the network’s surrender and idly endure Paramount’s corporate interference.
Depending on what comes next — especially if the Ellisons try to implement further changes to create a more Trump-friendly news organization, as some reports have indicated — more principled resignations could follow.
Because Redstone couldn’t get her deal done without staining CBS News’ integrity, the Ellisons inherit one unit that has been significantly wounded, with the prospect of additional casualties to come.
Principally known for its movie business, which includes collaborating with Paramount on the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, Skydance is preparing to take over multiple far-flung businesses once the merger goes through. Yet as this sad if predictable drama over “60 Minutes” comes to a close, it feels much less like a final reckoning than just the latest chapter of the media wars being waged under Trump, with no assurances the sequels won’t be a whole lot worse.