Paramount pays Trump $16M to settle CBS 60 Minutes lawsuit

Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit President Trump filed against CBS News; the funds were allocated to Trump's future presidential library and to the plaintiffs' legal fees, with neither Trump nor co-plaintiff Rep. Ronny Jackson paid directly. The lawsuit stemmed from CBS's editing of a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. The settlement was announced while Paramount had a pending merger with Skydance Media awaiting approval from the Federal Communications Commission. Critics characterized the lawsuit as frivolous and questioned whether Paramount's pending FCC regulatory review influenced its decision to settle rather than contest the case.