Paramount is in talks to settle a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Donald Trump against CBS News and “60 Minutes,” the New York Times reported on Thursday.
According to the Times, executives at Paramount believe that settling the lawsuit would make it less likely that Trump administration will block the studio’s planned merger with Skydance.
Two people close to Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, told the Times that she “strongly supports the effort to settle.”
Paramount representatives declined to comment when contacted by TheWrap.
If Paramount does settle, it would be following in the footsteps of ABC and Meta, who both opted to cooperate with the incoming 47th president rather than continue litigation.
On Wednesday, Meta decided to pay $25 million to settle Trump’s lawsuit about being kicked off Facebook and Instagram after the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol.
Last month, the Times reported that Disney CEO Bob Iger approved a$15 million settlement to avoid a lengthy legal battle and to avoid Trump’s “animus” during his second term.
Disney feared this “worst case scenario,” according to The Times, would “become a vehicle for Mr. Trump and his allies to overturn the landmark First Amendment decision in New York Times v. Sullivan. That 1964 ruling, as well as a handful of subsequent cases, made it much harder for public figures like Mr. Trump to win libel lawsuits.”
In his October lawsuit against CBS News, Trump alleged “deceptive doctoring” on segment featuring political rival Kamala Harris.
The suit also stated that the “60 Minutes” interview was a form of “news distortion” used to “tip the scales in the favor of the Democratic Party.”
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