Trump 'wins' lawsuit against CBS. Why that's sad and scary | Opinion

• Paramount Global settled a $20 billion lawsuit with Donald Trump for $16 million over a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris.
• Paramount's decision to settle, despite likely having a strong legal case, is attributed to financial motivations and a desire to avoid conflict with the Trump administration.
• This settlement follows a similar $15 million settlement between ABC News and Trump in 2024, raising concerns about potential chilling effects on journalism.

Paramount caved.

There’s no other way to put it. The company announced on Tuesday, July 1, that it would pay Donald Trump $16 million to settle a voter interference lawsuit against “60 Minutes” that most legal experts agree was without merit, and that the company could have won in court.

Pathetic. It’s selling out journalism for money, pure and simple. Often during Trump’s two terms, we have heard the refrain “don’t panic.”

It’s time to panic. The settlement could impact the media's ability to report honestly and without fear. It's that important. And that scary.

The lawsuit — Trump sued for $20 billion — centered on a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic nominee for president. Trump claimed the interview was doctored. It was not. Harris was asked a question about conflict in the Middle East. One part of her answer was used to promote the show on “Face the Nation,” another part during the show itself.

Why did Trump sue '60 Minutes'?

"60 Minutes gave an excerpt of our interview to Face the Nation that used a longer section of her answer than that on 60 Minutes," the show said in a statement in October. "Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response. … The portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide-ranging 21-minute-long segment."

It is an inelegant practice, at best, but sometimes happens when a network is promoting a big interview. Should they do it? Probably not. But "60 Minutes" released the full transcript, and it’s clear that nothing, including the context, was manipulated to make Harris look better.

Also, Trump won the election. It’s not as if the interview, no matter how it was played, changed the outcome or damaged Trump the candidate in any way.

How Trump's legal team reacted to Paramount settlement

And what did the settlement get Paramount? This statement from Trump's legal team: "With this record settlement, President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit. CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle."

This is ludicrous on its face. And entirely predictable. You can't appease bullies.

Why did Paramount settle with Trump over '60 Minutes'?

So why would Paramount, which owns CBS, the network that broadcasts “60 Minutes,” make such a spineless decision?

The short answer is money. The long answer, too. But the uglier part is that it feels like a shakedown. Paramount’s chair and controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, is desperate to merge the company with Skydance Media — a move that would require approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

Paramount said in a statement that no money would go to Trump personally. Instead, minus legal fees, it will go to a Trump presidential library, presumably to be built in the future.

As if that matters. This is a stain on the reputation of one of the gold standards of legitimate journalism. How big a stain? The kind you don’t recover from. The show has continued to do hard-hitting stories on Trump. But the show's executive producer, Bill Owens, quit in April. Wendy McMahon, the president of CBS News and Stations, was forced out in May.

They saw the writing on the wall, clearly. Better to walk away than be a party to this display of cowardice.

ABC settled a Trump lawsuit for $15 million

In 2024, ABC News settled a Trump lawsuit for $15 million. Trump had sued for defamation after anchor George Stephanopoulos said on air that Trump had been found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll; Trump was found guilty of sexually abusing and defaming Carroll. Again in this case, some legal experts believed ABC News had a good case.

This is chilling. The Trump administration is already trying everything it can to silence any criticism of its actions. On June 29, Trump told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News that he might force CNN and the New York Times to turn over their sources for stories that reported that U.S. bombs may not have done as much damage to Iran’s nuclear program as Trump claimed — he continues to say the program was “obliterated.”

He’s casually threatened both outlets with lawsuits over those stories, as well.

We are going to have to get used to it. It is not difficult to imagine that from here on out, if Trump doesn’t like a story someone publishes or broadcasts, he’ll simply sue the outlet doing the reporting — and pocket millions when they settle. If the owners of ABC News and “60 Minutes” don’t have the spine to stand up to Trump, who does? For all its blathering about free speech, the MAGA movement doesn’t have much stomach for it.

Paramount betrayed the public's trust. Period

So it’s trying to silence it, one dollar at a time. Or tens of millions of dollars, more accurately.

This behavior is, of course, anathema to independent journalism, which is a keystone of democracy. It’s a keystone Trump has long been eager to remove. “60 Minutes” is old-school journalism, nothing fancy, just really good, and still really popular. That this show could mark a turning point for free speech and the First Amendment is just too depressing to contemplate.

An apology from “60 Minutes” is not part of the settlement. Thankfully. That’s appropriate for two reasons. One is that none is needed.

The other is that any apology should not be directed to Trump. It should come from Redstone and Paramount to "60 Minutes" viewers, for betraying a public trust that is now damaged, maybe beyond repair.

Reach Goodykoontz at [email protected]. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. What are you waiting for?