Paramount Global is reportedly open to a financial settlement in response to former President Donald Trump’s $20 billion defamation lawsuit against CBS News, according to individuals familiar with internal discussions. The case centers on a segment aired by CBS’s flagship news program 60 Minutes, which Trump alleges was deceptively edited to misrepresent an interview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Sources indicate that Paramount’s board discussed potential settlement terms during an April 18 meeting, and while no agreement has been finalized, figures being considered are reportedly in the tens of millions of dollars. Mediation proceedings between legal teams from both sides were scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
Trump’s lawsuit claims the 60 Minutes segment intentionally misled viewers and defamed him. CBS has denied wrongdoing, and its legal representatives have called the case meritless. Some CBS journalists have also voiced concern, with at least one high-profile resignation occurring as a result of what is perceived as undue corporate influence on editorial decisions.
The decision to explore a settlement appears to follow increasing concern from Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone. According to a person familiar with Redstone’s thinking, she has expressed discomfort with the network’s tone in recent coverage and has advocated for more balance. Redstone reportedly raised concerns about CBS’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict in late 2023 and voiced those views during an October conference.
“Paramount is willing to strike a deal to resolve Donald Trump’s $20bn lawsuit against CBS News, after the studio’s owner, Shari Redstone, grew ‘concerned’ about the programme’s balance in recent months.”
Link in replies. pic.twitter.com/BSN3Ks5KeS— Dennis Lennox (@dennislennox) April 30, 2025
Though she has formally recused herself from the Paramount board’s deliberations on the matter, Redstone has encouraged the company to resolve the issue and avoid ongoing legal entanglement. She is also set to receive a significant payout—estimated in the billions—if the Trump administration approves Paramount’s proposed merger with Skydance, a deal currently under review by President Trump’s media regulator, Brendan Carr.
Tensions escalated earlier this month when 60 Minutes aired back-to-back stories on Ukraine and Greenland, prompting Trump to criticize the program publicly on social media. Following this, Redstone reportedly contacted CBS CEO George Cheeks to inquire about upcoming editorial content. A source close to Redstone emphasized that she did not seek to influence the content itself, but asked that stories be presented in a fair and balanced manner.
The developments have stirred reaction from both within CBS and in broader media circles. Veteran 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens resigned last week, citing a loss of editorial independence. Anchor Scott Pelley made an unusual statement at the conclusion of Sunday’s broadcast, informing viewers that Paramount had begun to “supervise our content in new ways” amid the company’s ongoing corporate negotiations.
Journalists and media experts outside CBS have also voiced concern. Gabriel Kahn, a journalism professor at the University of Southern California and former Wall Street Journal editor, criticized any move toward a settlement as potentially undermining the credibility of one of America’s most established news outlets. He warned that yielding to political or financial pressure could damage CBS’s reputation and long-standing viewer trust.
The 60 Minutes brand has been a prominent fixture in American journalism since its inception in the 1970s and continues to attract a substantial audience, with recent viewership estimated at seven million for its Sunday night broadcasts. The program has continued to provide ongoing coverage of the Trump administration.
FAFO 🚨
Trumps lawsuit for $10B dollars on Paramount and CBS over election interference, when they edited this video, has stalled a merger for $8B with Skydance by the FCC
Paramount has hired a consultant to come up with an amount Trump would acceptpic.twitter.com/pf4NJPY7fQ
— @Chicago1Ray 🇺🇸 (@Chicago1Ray) April 26, 2025
The CBS case follows a similar legal episode involving Trump and ABC News, which resulted in a $15 million payment from Disney in December 2024 to settle a defamation suit related to on-air comments by anchor George Stephanopoulos.
On the same day mediation began with CBS, Trump reiterated his stance on the lawsuit via a post on his social media platform Truth Social, calling the case a “true WINNER” and accusing CBS of defrauding the American public. He added, “CBS is out of control, at levels never seen before, and they should pay a big price for this.”
