CBS News parent Paramount Global has agreed to pay $16 million to resolve an extraordinary lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes” news report last fall.
The long-gestating and highly controversial settlement payment was announced by Paramount late Tuesday night.
Paramount said the $16 million sum “includes plaintiffs’ fees and costs,” and will not be paid to Trump directly, but instead will be allocated to Trump’s future presidential library — mirroring a settlement agreement that Disney’s ABC struck with Trump last December.
“The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret,” Paramount specified.
The announcement also said that “in the future, ‘60 Minutes’ will release transcripts of interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after such interviews have aired, subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns.”
CNN is butthurt.
Legal experts maintained that Trump’s suit was frivolous and that CBS was on solid ground to fight and win the case in court.
You would think that if CBS wanted to take a stand against Trump, defending against a frivolous lawsuit would be a good place to do it.
As it is, either their lawyers judged the lawsuit as having some merit, or they just threw their own journalists under the bus for the sake of expediency.
“You would think that if CBS wanted to take a stand against Trump, defending against a frivolous lawsuit would be a good place to do it. ”
“Frivolous”, he says.
CBS COMMITTED FRAUD. And got caught. And KNEW they were caught.
Grow up.
1. Mind your mouth.
2. I never said that the lawsuit was frivolous. I said it was one of two possibilties.
3. It’s very difficult for a public figure to win a defamation suit in the US, even when it seems blatant. The courts are very fond of 1st-amendment free-speech rights, and have set a very high bar. The plaintiff has to provide substantial evidence of actual malice, which is tough to do even when there IS malice.
Your commenting skills leave a lot to be desired, and Fred has the right of it.
“Mind your mouth”: you like dishing out orders; the gall, coupled with idiocy.
When SDA insisted that commenters register with WordPress, it was to tone down the personal attacks. I recommend you take a hint from that.
Why would you even bring up Defamation when the claim was a violation of a consumer protection law against fraudulent claims?
I just assumed it was defamation. The CNN article doesn’t mention the tort. In fact, it was “tortious inteference” in an attempt to prevent Trump from winning the presidential election.
But that makes the case into an even greater longshot, as apparently no similar cases exist. Trump was trying to furrow new legal ground, and that is rarely successful.
“In fact, it was “tortious inteference” in an attempt to prevent Trump from winning the presidential election.”
Damned Galapagonians!
Those meddling turtles.
And you know what’s even HARDER to prove in the “Democracy” of the USA? Election Interference.
But there comes a time when the “preponderance of evidence” certifies that Election Interference is endemic … and needs to be corrected. Immediately. In-person voting only. Voter ID. Proof of citizenship. Etc.
Perhaps CBS didn’t want to add or extend the discussion and evidence of … Election Interference. Institutionalized Election Interference.
“When SDA insisted that commenters register with WordPress, it was to tone down the personal attacks.”
Yes, and your immediate response was to TAUNT everyone with a “gee, some people are going to be really unhappy that I am still allowed here”. You demonstrate the maturity level of a 14-year-old.
” I recommend you take a hint from that.”
I recommend that you STOP TROLLING to provoke those attacks, if it bothers you so much.
Speaking as a sometime long-ago insurance lawyer, there’s nothing “expedient” about dropping 30 million bucks on a frivolous lawsuit. A frivolous lawsuit can justify a few hundred thousand to keep your favourite litigation counsel happily polished and nurtured while he romps and stomps and shows his juniors how it’s done, but that’s about the limit. You don’t pay the guy who brings the frivolous suit, unless he’ll take appreciably less than it would take to nourish your counsel.
If they’re dropping millions on this, it’s not frivolous. Indeed, it seems apparent that CBS was actively dishonest, and when a plainly dishonest bastard gets in front of a jury it’s rare that technicalities can save him.
And what’s this about “tortuous interference”? Why, they were just twisting the night away…
An apology would have been nice, but it’s a wink away when you ask if CBS would pay $15 million and not see they were wrong.
He’s going to pay for his library with money from all his various settlements.
And it’s going to be a Big, Beautiful Library and you’ve never seen one like it. It’ll be great!
And yes, we’re going to get them to pay for it. It won’t cost us a dime.
And ya wanna bet it gets finished BEFORE Obama’s Liebrary?
“Legal experts maintained that Trump’s suit was frivolous…”
Yeah, right… CNN’s ‘Legal experts’ are cut from the same cloth as the liberal District Court Judges who keep getting bitch slapped down for their unconstitutionally broad injunctions.
“This is a very sad moment for ’60 Minutes,’ CBS News and journalism,” a CBS News staffer told CNN on condition of anonymity.
Yes but not for the reason the staffer might think. CNN was caught making up better answers on behalf of the Democrat Presidential candidate. That is cheating. They got caught. So they through in the towel.
It will interesting to watch the upcoming mayoral race between Mamdani, Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo. Three democrats – a communist, a socialist and a deep blue conservative – 2 backed by billionaires and 1 who just crushed it in the primaries. Talk about a cat fight.
As I understand it, the $16M is just the initial payment for settlement. There is yet another payment of similar size that will be coming later.
“As I understand it, the $16M is just the initial payment for settlement. There is yet another payment of similar size that will be coming later.”
Yes, he actually won 30 million….16 is just the first payment. Can’t believe all the ‘journalists’ out there seriously decrying this as the death of the news industry (with a straight face, no less).
How about this: maybe just STOP LYING?