US media firm Paramount Global has paid $16 million (£13.5m) to resolve a court battle with US President Donald Trump over an interview it aired on CBS featuring former Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Last October, Trump had sued the network for allegedly having deceitfully edited a 60 Minutes news program interview with his presidential election opponent Kamala Harris to “tip the scales in favour of the Democratic party”. Paramount offered to pay to settle the suit, but out of its funds to be used for Trump’s future presidential library, rather than paid to him “directly or indirectly”.
The firm pointed out that there is no apology or expression of regret included in the settlement. A Trump legal team spokesperson quickly celebrated the settlement as a “win for the American people” against the “fake news media.”.
“CBS and Paramount Global saw the power of this landmark case and had no other option but to settle,” the spokesperson continued. “President Trump will never let anyone get away with lying to the American people. Paramount-owned CBS earlier stated the case was “wholly without merit” and had requested that a judge throw it out. It maintained the broadcast was “not doctored or deceptive.”.
The settlement is the latest concession by an American media company to a president who has attacked outlets for what he calls false or misleading reporting.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Texas, CBS broadcast two editions of the Harris interview in which she seemed to provide different answers to essentially the same question regarding the Israel-Gaza war. Interviewer Bill Whitaker questioned the Democratic nominee regarding the Biden administration’s relationship with Israel. The network then broadcast two versions of her reply, as per the accusation.
One was broadcast on Face the Nation and the other on 60 Minutes. Trump accused Harris’s “word salad” response of having been misleadingly edited in one version to protect her from criticism.
The BBC’s US news partner CBS said it had cut Harris’s response to time, according to TV news conventions. Trump sued for $10bn (£8.5bn) initially, but that was then raised to $20bn ($17bn) for damages. The firm made a $15m (12.7m) offer to pay out to settle the suit in May this year, but Trump demanded over $25m (£21m).
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Paramount confirmed the settlement fee would cover the president’s attorney fees and that it had agreed that 60 Minutes would make available transcripts of interviews with prospective presidential candidates.
