Trump rejects Paramount's $15 million offer to settle CBS News lawsuit, demands apology
Trump's legal team is seeking at least $25 million and a mea culpa
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Donald Trump and Paramount Global are still at an impasse as they attempt to resolve his $20 billion lawsuit against the company through mediation.
Fox News Digital confirmed that Trump rejected a $15 million offer to settle his lawsuit, according to a source familiar with the matter. The president's legal team is also demanding at least $25 million and an apology from CBS News. Trump's attorneys even floated another lawsuit against the company.
Trump's settlement rejection was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump's attorney did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Paramount declined to comment.
‘60 MINUTES’ STAFF STAND BY KAMALA HARRIS INTERVIEW AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP'S MAJOR PARAMOUNT LAWSUIT
President Donald Trump rejected a $15 million offer by Paramount Global to settle his $20 billion lawsuit against the company. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Last October, Trump sued CBS News and Paramount for $10 billion over allegations of election interference involving the "60 Minutes" interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris that aired weeks before the presidential election (the amount has since jumped to $20 billion).
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The lawsuit alleges CBS News deceitfully edited an exchange Harris had with "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker, who asked her why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn't "listening" to the Biden administration. Harris was widely mocked for the "word salad" answer that aired in a preview clip of the interview on "Face the Nation."
However, when the same question aired during a primetime special on the network, Harris had a different, more concise response. Critics at the time accused CBS News of deceitfully editing Harris' "word salad" answer to shield the Democratic nominee from further backlash leading up to Election Day.
The raw transcript and footage released earlier this year by the FCC showed that both sets of Harris' comments came from the same response, but CBS News had aired only the first half of her response in the "Face the Nation" preview clip and aired the second half during the primetime special.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CBS News has denied any wrongdoing and stands by the broadcast and its reporting.
Bill Whitaker’s "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris is at the center of a high-stakes lawsuit. (Screenshots/CBS News)
Shari Redstone, Paramount's controlling shareholder who recused herself from settlement discussions in February, made clear that she wanted to settle Trump's lawsuit in hopes of clearing the pathway for Paramount's multibillion-dollar planned merger with Skydance Media, which seeks approval from the Trump administration's FCC.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}However, there has been newsroom drama in recent months involving Redstone's efforts to "keep tabs" on the network's reporting of Trump, at least until the merger closes. That led to the abrupt resignation of "60 Minutes" executive producer Bill Owens, who claimed he could no longer maintain editorial independence.
Also fueling settlement rumors was last week's ousting of CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon, who cited disagreement with the company behind her departure.
CBS NEWS STAFFERS RATTLED BY CEO'S ABRUPT EXIT AS TRUMP LAWSUIT LOOMS OVER NETWORK
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bill Owens, Wendy McMahon, Cecilia Vega and Scott Pelley at the CBS fall schedule celebration held at Paramount Studios on May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. Owens and McMahon both resigned from CBS this year while Pelley blasted Trump at a commencement address. (Getty Images)
CBS News journalists remain defiant, including "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley, who went viral with his commencement address at Wake Forest University repeatedly slamming Trump as well as his lawsuit.
"Why attack universities? Why attack journalism? Because ignorance works for power," Pelley told Wake Forest graduates. "First, make the truth seekers live in fear, sue the journalists and their companies for nothing. Then, send masked agents to abduct a college student who wrote an editorial in her college paper defending Palestinian rights and send her to a prison in Louisiana charged with nothing. Then move to destroy the law firms that stand up for the rights of others."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"With that done, power can rewrite history with grotesque false narratives. They can make criminals heroes and heroes criminals. Power can change the definition of the words we use to describe reality. Diversity is now described as illegal. Equity is to be shunned. Inclusion is a dirty word. This is an old playbook, my friends. There's nothing new in this," he continued.