Paramount agrees to pay $16 million to settle Trump’s lawsuit over ’60 Minutes’ Kamala Harris interview
Paramount agreed to pay $ 16 million to set up a trial brought by President Donald Trump who had alleged an interview broadcast on “60 minutes” from CBS last year with Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent for the presidency, was deceptive.
The agreement in principle, proposed by a mediator, includes the fees and costs of the applicants and – with the exception of costs and costs – will be allocated to the future Trump’s presidential library, said Paramount in a statement on Tuesday evening. Paramount is the parent company of CBS.
The trial was filed in the Northern Texas District and requested $ 20 billion in damages.
“The regulations will include a publication of all complaints concerning any CBS reporting the date of the settlement, including the action of Texas and the endangered defamation action,” the statement said.
Neither CBS News nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comments.
Trump added his former doctor, representative Ronny Jackson, R-TX, as a claimant at the trial in February, Los Angeles Times reported. Under the regulations, Paramount said in his declaration, neither the president nor Jackson would personally receive direct or indirect payment.
Paramount also declared that it was agreed that in the future “60 minutes” would publish the transcriptions of interviews with the candidates for the American presidential elections eligible after the dissemination of the interviews, “subject to the drafting required for the problems of legal or national certainty”.
“The regulations do not include a declaration of apology or regrets,” said the company.
The proposed regulations arise while Paramount seeks to finish a merger of $ 8 billion with the media production group Skydance Media.
Paramount on Tuesday underlined a previous statement concerning the Skydance merger. “This trial is completely distinct and unrelated to the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process,” he said. “We will respect the legal process to defend our case.”
The merger requires the approval of the Trump administration, a situation which led to tensions to CBS News which took place at the opening.
In May, Wendy McMahon resigned from her post as head of CBS News, saying in a memo that “the company and I do not agree on the way to go”. This resignation followed the departure in April of Bill Owens, a large producer at “60 minutes”. In a memo to staff members, Owens said that his journalistic independence had been registered in the previous months.
