Discussions are underway between representatives of Paramount and President Donald Trump to settle a $10 billion lawsuit he filed against CBS in the days before the election accusing the network of deceptive editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, according to sources with knowledge of the talks.
With Trump as president, settling the lawsuit could mean lowering the odds that the administration won't block or delay Paramount's plans for a multibillion-dollar merger with the entertainment company Skydance, reports The New York Times.
Paramount needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission, which is now led by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, to complete its merger.
Paramount is also expecting the FCC to request that CBS News surrender an unedited transcript of the Harris interview. The network has refused calls from Trump's lawyers to release the documents.
Carr says the commission will likely examine the Harris interview while reviewing the Paramount merger.
Paramount's controlling shareholder Shari Redstone stands to make billions of dollars from the sale of the company to Skydance, the company backed by billionaire Larry Ellison and operated by his son David.
But if Paramount settles, it would be an unusual agreement by a U.S. media company with a sitting president and is expected to cause issues with CBS News and "60 Minutes," who have expressed concerns about settling the litigation and capitulating to a politician's complaints about their editorial judgment, people familiar with internal discussions are saying.
Two other major companies have settled lawsuits in recent weeks with Trump.
ABC News last month spent $15 million resolving Trump's defamation lawsuit against the network and anchor George Stephanopoulos.
Wednesday, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, reported agreeing to a $25 million settlement in a lawsuit Trump filed after the social media networks suspended his accounts in 2021.
Trump attorney Edward Paltzik said in a statement Thursday that "real accountability" by CBS News and Paramount will ensure that Trump is "compensated for the harm done to him."
A settlement will also deter the "fake news from further distorting the facts to advance a partisan agenda. President Trump looks forward to seeing this case through to a just conclusion," Paltzik said.
Trump's team accused "60 Minutes" of selectively editing the Harris interview. In a preview of the interview airing on CBS News' Sunday morning show, "Face the Nation," Harris was shown giving a different answer to a question than the one she was shown giving in the interview as shown on "60 Minutes."
The Trump campaign accused the program of picking out a more coherent quote from the Democrat nominee for the prime-time program to boost her candidacy.
CBS News responded that Harris gave a lengthy answer to the question and said the network followed standard practices by airing a different part of the answer in the prime-time show because of time constraints.
The network also insisted that the interview was not doctored and called Trump's lawsuit "completely without merit."
Trump's complaint hinges on an interpretation of Texas law prohibiting deceptive trade practices, but CBS lawyers said his standing to file the suit in Texas was tenuous.