A law professor cited by CBS News called Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit regarding the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris “…so ill grounded that it comes close to being sanctionable as frivolous.” Recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that executives at CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, are contemplating settling the lawsuit while “gaming out options to reduce friction with the incoming administration” ahead of a government review of its merger with Skydance.
The report also highlights that incoming FCC chairman and censor-in-chief Brendan Carr cautioned executives last year that presidential dissatisfaction with CBS News could complicate the review process. Carr publicly expressed this concern, stating during a Fox News interview in November, “…CBS has a transaction before the FCC. I’m pretty confident that news distortion complaints regarding the CBS 60 Minutes transcript are likely to arise during the FCC’s review of that transaction.”
The lawsuit alleges that by airing two differently edited versions of Harris’ response to a question about the war in Gaza, “CBS used its national platform on 60 Minutes to cross the line from the exercise of judgment in reporting to deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news.”
Instead of defending free speech against the lawsuit and Trump’s accusations, which the network claims are false and without merit, Paramount is reportedly considering following the example of Disney and other tech giants who are expected to attend the inauguration, including Mark Zuckerberg.
The owner of ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to Trump’s presidential foundation and museum to settle a defamation lawsuit in December. Zuckerberg has also adjusted Meta’s policies to align more with the right while meeting with Trump, reportedly to mediate a lawsuit Trump filed against Facebook and Zuckerberg in 2021 after the platform suspended Trump’s account following the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
