Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by U.S. President Donald Trump over the editing of a 2020 60 Minutes interview with then–Vice President Kamala Harris, in a case seen as a test of free speech boundaries in American media.
The settlement, announced this week, stipulates that the funds will go toward Trump’s future presidential library—not to Trump personally. Paramount, which owns CBS, emphasized that the agreement includes no apology or admission of wrongdoing.
Trump’s legal team argued the edited segment caused him “mental anguish,” alleging that CBS News manipulated the footage to make Harris, now the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, appear more favorable. Paramount and CBS strongly denied those claims, calling the lawsuit “completely without merit” and initially seeking to have it dismissed even as settlement talks proceeded.
The lawsuit attracted national attention, raising concerns about media independence and corporate alignment with political power—especially as Paramount is seeking regulatory approval from Trump’s administration for a proposed merger with Skydance Media.
During a shareholder meeting on Wednesday, Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks said settling the lawsuit was a pragmatic decision aimed at avoiding drawn-out litigation and allowing the company to concentrate on its core business. “Settlement allows a company to focus on its objectives rather than being mired in uncertainty and distraction,” Cheeks said.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team declared the outcome a “win for the American people.”
As part of the resolution, Paramount also agreed to release the full, unedited transcript of the Harris interview, which 60 Minutes published in early February.
