Paramount pays $16M to Trump in Kamala case

A settlement has been reached between Paramount and Donald Trump in the latter’s $20 billion lawsuit against the media group.

Trump accused Paramount via CBS of manipulating an episode of 60 Minutes, containing an interview with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, with the aim, he claimed, of deliberately misleading the public.

After several weeks of speculation, accentuated by the departure of several key CBS figures, the two parties finally agreed to a $16 million settlement.

Once the legal fees have been deducted, Donald Trump plans to use this amount to finance the future presidential library in his name.

As a result of this agreement, Trump will waive all claims against CBS relating to past reporting, including those that were never formally challenged in court. For their part, CBS and Paramount will not be required to issue a public apology in connection with the case.

While many voices are being raised to denounce Paramount’s decision to give in to Trump – without any convincing justification, according to critics, other than the decision to finalize a merger with Skydance Media requiring government approval – Trump, for his part, sees it as yet another resounding victory against what he calls the “fake news” media.

CBS has admitted to airing two separate versions of the same response from Kamala Harris: a more complete version in Face the Nation and an abridged version in 60 Minutes, due to the show’s format constraints. This type of editing is common in the journalistic world, and no evidence of intentional manipulation was found in this case, as CBS’s practices remain consistent with professional journalistic standards.