That another media company is paying off Trump to settle his unfounded, cry-baby lawsuit aimed at destroying independent news outlets screws all of us.
This is goddamn shameful and infurating. And, unfortunately, it has become all the more predictable and acceptable.
Paramount Global will pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump regarding his complaints over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.
The settlement, which includes legal fees and a donation to Trump’s future presidential library, avoids a protracted legal battle but raises serious questions about the potential for political influence over the media.
As part of the agreement, Paramount will begin releasing full written transcripts of all future “60 Minutes” interviews with presidential candidates.
While the company offered no apology, the payout marks a rare public concession to a sitting president by a major media company.
Trump had initially sought $10 billion, alleging that CBS News deliberately distorted an interview to benefit Democrats.
Legal experts widely dismissed the case as meritless, pointing to the First Amendment protections afforded to editorial decisions.
However, Paramount’s chair, Shari Redstone, advocated for settling, partly to avoid jeopardizing a pending multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance Media.
That’s the real kick in the crotch of this whole sad affair: Paramount sold the CBS News division’s journalistic integrity to preserve its deal with Skydance, which the Trump administration has to greenlight.
The amount for which Paramount settled is also rage-inducing. Check this out:
The $16 million settlement matches the amount ABC News paid in December to resolve a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump against the network and anchor George Stephanopoulos. Paramount’s board reportedly feared that offering a larger sum could heighten the risk of shareholder lawsuits alleging the payment constituted a form of bribery.
So, not only is Trump pocketing another $16 million based on his bullshit claims, but Paramount is all but acknowledgling that the settlement is bullshit as well, seeing at how it’s the exact amount the gutless swine at ABC News and the parent company Disney paid Trump.
[Editor’s Note: Author and Postindustrial Founder Carmen Gentile previously reported for both CBS News, owned by Paramount, and Disney property ABC News, and has nothing nice to say about either.]
On top of the ignominy and embarrassment this settlement has wrought, it also endangers us all, as well as the free and fair news media unwilling to bend a knee to Trump’s most fascistic attempts to control his own twisted, self-aggrandizing narrative.
And while Paramount may think it has best protected its best interests (for now), what they, ABC News, and any other outlet that capitulates to Trump that still dares refer to use the “news” in its moniker has done is fuck the rest of us.
By caving to Trump’s baseless lawsuits and unjust use of presidential power, they have weakened other news outlets carrying on with noble intentions to hold truth to power and keep this rampant corruption and abuse from consuming the rest of us amid his non-stop campaign of grift and jack-booted thuggery.
