Freedom of the Press Foundation Threatens Legal Action if Paramount Settles With Trump Over '60 Minutes' Interview

Media defense group Freedom of nan Press Foundation has sent a warning letter to Paramount mogul Shari Redstone, outlining plans to record a suit if nan media institution settles a suit brought by President Donald Trump against its subsidiary, CBS.

“Corporations that ain news outlets should not beryllium successful nan business of settling baseless lawsuits that intelligibly break nan First Amendment,” Freedom of nan Press Foundation head of defense Seth Stern said successful a statement.

Stern issued nan informing by asking for a litigation clasp connected Friday afternoon, demanding that Paramount sphere immoderate documents relating to a imaginable Trump woody and urging nan institution not to settle. The nonprofit is capable to activity damages because it owns shares of Paramount. It plans to enactment connected behalf of itself and different shareholders, alleging that nan colony would magnitude to nan company’s executives “breaching their fiduciary duties and wasting firm assets by engaging successful behaviour that US senators and others judge could magnitude to unlawful bribery that falls extracurricular nan scope of nan business judgement rule.” The White House and Paramount did not instantly respond to requests for comment.

Last October, President Trump sued Paramount subsidiaries CBS Broadcasting and CBS Interactive, alleging that an question and reply pinch erstwhile Vice President Kamala Harris that aired connected longstanding CBS News programme 60 Minutes was deceptively edited, successful a mode that constituted predetermination interference. Initially seeking $10 cardinal successful damages, Trump amended nan suit successful February to inquire for $20 billion. Paramount Global has a marketplace headdress of astir $8.5 billion.

Although Paramount previously called nan suit “an affront to nan First Amendment” successful ineligible filings to disregard this March, it has reportedly sought to settle; nan institution has a perchance lucrative merger pending pinch Hollywood workplace Skydance that would require nan Trump administration’s signoff.

Last week, Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Ron Wyden sent a letter to Redstone seeking accusation astir immoderate imaginable settlement, raising concerns that it would magnitude to bribery. “If Paramount officials make these concessions successful a quid pro quo statement to power President Trump aliases different Administration officials,” they wrote, “they whitethorn beryllium breaking nan law.”

Talks of a imaginable colony had roiled CBS for months. Longtime 60 Minutes executive shaper Bill Owens abruptly resigned successful April, and CBS News president and CEO Wendy McMahon resigned earlier this month. “It’s go clear nan institution and I do not work together connected a way forward,” she wrote successful a memo to unit astatine nan time.

Trump’s suit against Paramount isn’t an isolated onslaught connected nan media. He sued ABC News, owned by nan Walt Disney Company, for defamation successful March 2024 complete comments from anchor George Stephanopoulos portraying nan president arsenic “liable for rape.” (A national assemblage recovered President Trump liable for intersexual battle successful a 2023 civilian case, but not rape.) The institution settled nan lawsuit successful December. In precocious April, Trump posted comments connected his societal level Truth Social that appeared to frighten The New York Times pinch nan anticipation of ineligible action successful nan future.