CBS Sports parent Paramount Global likely has moved a major step closer to completing its $8 billion merger deal with Skydance Media after reaching a $16 million legal settlement late Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Paramount will make the payment toward a future Trump presidential library to resolve complaints from the White House that CBS’s 60 Minutes improperly altered an interview with 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Many legal experts believed the Trump allegations had little merit and that CBS News did nothing wrong. Nonetheless, Paramount agreed to the payment, not unlike how ESPN parent company Disney reached a $15 million settlement last year in a defamation lawsuit from Trump.
The $16 million settlement in the Paramount-Trump case is 0.08% of the $20 billion in damages he sought.
“The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret,” Paramount said of its agreement.
The company added that the legal settlement “is completely separate from and unrelated to the Skydance transaction and the [Federal Communications Commission] approval process.” While that’s technically true, it’s almost certainly not on a substantive level. The Skydance merger, in the works for about a year, is still awaiting FCC approval, with that agency led by Trump appointee Brendan Carr.
As a settlement deal approached, Trump praised Skydance founder and CEO David Ellison, saying recently, “Ellison’s great. He’ll do a great job with [a merged Paramount-Skydance].”
To some observers, the situation amounts to a simple shakedown, and one designed to have a chilling effect on the press.
“This settlement is a transparent attempt to curry favors with an administration in the hopes it will allow the Paramount Global and Skydance Media merger to be cleared for approval,” said the Writers Guild of America East, which represents CBS News writers, in a Wednesday statement.
What Happens Next?
Regardless of whether the Paramount-Skydance deal closes, there are already significant implications for all of CBS, including in sports. Calls for boycotts of the network are already rising, and shareholder lawsuits are also possible. The situation is also developing as CBS is about to restart its most-watched programming: live NFL games, including as many as nine with the Chiefs, the league’s top viewership draw, during the 2025 season.
“A settlement offers a negotiated resolution that allows companies to focus on their core objectives, rather than being mired in uncertainty and distraction,” Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks said Wednesday in an annual shareholder meeting.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called Wednesday for Congressional investigation into the settlement.
“With Paramount folding to Donald Trump at the same time the company needs his administration for its billion-dollar merger, this could be bribery in plain sight,” she said.
Paramount had previously intended to complete the Skydance deal by June 30, but that date has now passed. The company, meanwhile, laid off 3.5% of its domestic workforce last month.
