After months of back-and-forth, Trump just landed a huge win against Paramount.
Reports broke this morning that Paramount and CBS have agreed to pay Donald Trump $16 million upfront, and there will likely be another $14 million paid in trade in the future.
Paramount ownership has been trying to get past this lawsuit, but it will come at a heavy price, as liberals and Democrats are already losing their minds over the settlement.
The suit was filed after 60 Minutes aired several teasers to its interview with Kamala Harris, showing a different answer from what was actually aired when the show was broadcast.
It quickly became clear that the show had cleverly edited the interview to make Harris seem more knowledgeable, which led to Trump demanding that the full footage be released.
CBS eventually did release the raw transcript, and it showed that Kamala Harris, as usual, was talking with nonsensical word salads, all of which were heavily edited.
Trump went ballistic, claiming election interference, eventually filing his suit against the network and parent company, Paramount.
My understanding from other reports is that ownership just wanted to get out from under this suit, with the majority stakeholder admitting that she was willing to pay as much as $50 million for the case to go away.
This week, reports broke that a $30 million settlement was on the table.
Wednesday morning, some details emerged, with Trump being paid a reported $16 million upfront, and another $14 million-plus that would be paid in advertising and public service announcements.
Trump’s legal team announced, "With this record settlement, President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit. CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle. President Trump will always ensure that no one gets away with lying to the American People as he continues on his singular mission to Make America Great Again.”
It took all of about three seconds for outrage to ensue on the other side of the aisle, as well as other media outlets, for Paramount caving and settling with Trump.
Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the FCC, stated that “instead of standing on principle, Paramount opted for a payout. That decision now casts a long shadow over the integrity of the transaction pending before the FCC.
“Given the extraordinary public interest in this deal, the novel legal questions raised by the lawsuit and its resolution, and the repeated calls from lawmakers for transparency, I once again urge the FCC to bring this matter before the full Commission for a vote.”
The Writers Guild of America East (WGEA) was also outraged over the settlement, accusing Paramount of trying to “curry favors” with the Trump administration. Or maybe, just maybe, they realized what they did was wrong and aired a biased interview when the American people deserved to know the truth.