CBS executives consider using frivolous lawsuit as a pretext for giving Donald Trump a massive bribe
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After all, that merger isn’t going to approve itself!
Paramount Global executives have held internal discussions about settling a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump over a CBS News interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, according to people familiar with the situation, a sign of larger efforts to dial down tensions with the incoming president.
Paramount, owner of CBS, its namesake studio and several cable channels, has a major piece of business in front of the new administration: its planned merger with Skydance Media. It’s become clear to executives at both companies that Trump’s dissatisfaction with CBS News will make the review tougher than they anticipated, and that they’ll likely need to offer concessions to win approval, people familiar with the situation said.
Incoming Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr gave Paramount executives a warning to that effect at a reception late last year following the taping of the Kennedy Center honors in Washington, according to people familiar with the exchange, and he has echoed the message in public remarks.
The FCC has the authority over the transaction because it would involve the transfer of broadcast-TV licenses held by local CBS-owned stations.
Trump’s lawsuit against CBS, which seeks $10 billion in damages, alleges that the network committed election interference by editing portions of an interview with Harris, favoring her campaign for president. Trump claimed CBS aired one version of the interview on “60 Minutes” and another version on its show “Face the Nation,” each containing different answers about Israel. CBS has said it aired a more succinct version of Harris’s interview on “60 Minutes.”
There was no indication that Paramount had approached Trump’s team about a settlement, but executives at the company were gaming out options to reduce friction with the incoming administration.
It’s worth noting that this lawsuit is even more ridiculous than the ABC one — it is not “election interference” to engage in the banal practice of showing edited version of interviews, leaving aside the fact that no public figure has benefited more from sanewashing than Trump. But the merits aren’t the point, because this is an opportunity to show fealty to Daddy Trump, and the American corporate class is palpably eager to play ball.