Paramount Global disputes Media reports That the company’s solution of $ 16 million with President Donald Trump over CBS ‘Kamala Harris “60 minutes” interview contains an agreement to operate public announcements in its networks.
An individual close to the settlement negotiations told Thewrap that there is expectation that there may be another “low to the middle of eight digits” in the future that would be set aside for announcements and advertisements that support “conservative causes”, which sets the total amount of almost $ 30 million.
Fox Business’ Charlie Gasparino Reported that Skydance, which would take over Paramount, pending the FCC approval of its merger of $ 8 billion, had agreed to operate the PSAs.
But Paramount said that in contrast to this reporting, its settlement “does not include PSA or something related to PSA.”
“Paramount has no knowledge of any promises or commitments made against President Trump other than those stated in the residence proposed by the mediator and accepted by the parties,” said a spokesman for the media giant in a statement on Wednesday. “The material conditions in the decommissioning agreement are basically the ones we revealed yesterday.”
Representatives of Trump and Skydance refused to comment.
On Tuesday evening, the MediaGigant revealed the terms of $ 16 million, which covers legal fees and other costs, as well as a donation that will be awarded a “future presidential library.”
Paramount also said that “in the future ’60 minutes’ will release prints of interviews with eligible US presidential candidates after such interviews have been sent, subject to editors required for legal or national security problems.”
In addition, the company emphasized that the settlement does not include any excuse statement or regret from CBS or “60 minutes” and that Trump will not receive any money directly or indirectly and will release all his claims, including slander.
In a statement after the settlement, Trump’s legal team called it a “win for the American people.”
“With this record settlement, President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people because he again has the false news media responsible for their errors and fraud,” said a spokesman for Trump’s legal team in a statement. “CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historical case and had no choice but to solve.”
Meanwhile, Paramount Co-Cee George Cheeks defended the decision to resolve During the company’s annual meeting on Wednesday morning, such as insiders at CBS, legal experts and federal and California’s Senate Legislators have all said that the costume was frivolous and had no merits.
“Companies often determine litigation to avoid the high and somewhat unpredictable costs of judicial defense, the risk of a negative assessment that can lead to significant economic as well as reputation damage and the disruption in the business operations that extended legal battles can cause,” said Cheks under a question and answer. “Settlement offers a negotiated resolution that allows companies to focus on their core goals, rather than being associated with uncertainty and distraction.”
While many observers regarded a settlement of Trump’s action as the last obstacle to clearing the Skydance business for the approval of the legislation, both Paramount and FCC chairman Brendan Carr have said the settlement negotiations were not related to the agency’s review. The review is required due to transmission of broadcast licenses.
Carr has warned that “all alternatives remain on the table” in the agency’s ongoing investigation of alleged “news distortion” related to the Harris interview, including potentially recall of CBS’s broadcasting license if the network turns out to have violated the agency’s general confidence.
The deal, as managers have said would close during the first half of 2025, is prepared to trigger its second automatic 90-day extension next week, which would push the final deadline until October 6. After that, both sides have the opportunity to cease the merger, which would not lead to the agreement’s closure of the agreement’s $ 400 million refractive fee.
When asked by reporters last month if he sees the agency’s review soon, Trump replied: “I hope so. Ellisons are big, he will do a good job with it.”
While Trump’s mood is behind them, Sens had. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden previously issued a Warning to Paramount Checking more active Shari Redstone Reaching a solution in exchange for approval of the legislation can violate federal laws against bribes.
Together with the warning, Redstone asked to answer nine questions no later than June 2, including if Paramount considers that the case was without merits, if business leaders discussed to solve things for the Skydance merger, in “60 minutes” made changes to its programming with it in mind and if further such changes will come.
Legal experts who previously spoken with Thewrap do not exclude legal action due to a solution, but has dismissed the perception of bribery charges as a “non-case.”
On Wednesday, Warren said Paramount has refused to respond to the trio’s request. She said the settlement is “could be a bribe in clear vision” and demanded a “Full investigation” on the issue. She added that she plans to introduce new legislation to “stretch corruption through the donations of the presidential library.”
“Trump administration level of pure corruption is scary and Paramount should be ashamed to put their gains over independent journalism,” Warren’s Statement ended.
Sanders similarly struck the settlement and claimed that it sets “an extremely dangerous precedent regarding both the first amendment and the government’s blackmail” and will “just that Emboli Trump to continue to attack, sue and scare the media that he has noticed” the enemy of the people. “
“It is a dark day for independent journalism and freedom of the press – an essential part of our democracy. It is a victory for a president who tries to stifle dissenses and undermine American democracy,” the statement.
In addition to the review from federal legislators, California’s state senate Has also launched an investigation into the matter and invited the former “60 -minute” executive producer Bill Owens and former CBS news president Wendy McMahon to testify.
Paramount’s settlement comes after Disney previously paid $ 15 million to resolve a defamation that Trump raised against ABC News and the Star’s anchor George Stephanopoulos. Meta also paid $ 25 million to resolve Trump’s trial to be kicked on Facebook and Instagram after the attack on Capitol on January 6, 2021.
