“60 Minutes” producer Bill Owens resigns from editorial concerns
Bill Owens, executive producer for CBS News, “’60 Minutes,” has stepped down from his role, citing concerns about editorial and journalistic independence.
No Brands – Entertainment
NEW YORK – CBS parent company Paramount resolved a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over the October broadcast of an interview.
Paramount said it would pay $16 million to settle the lawsuit, and it would be allocated to Trump’s future presidential library and not be paid to Trump “directly or indirectly.”
“The settlement does not include an apology or a statement of regret,” the company’s statement added.
Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS in October, claiming that the network had a seemingly compiled an interview with then-presidential and presidential candidate Kamala Harris that he “took a scale in favor of Democrats.” In an amended complaint filed in February, Trump threw his damages claim to $20 billion.
CBS aired two versions of Harris’ interview, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Texas.
CBS previously said the lawsuit was “completely meritless” and asked the judge to dismiss the case.
The White House did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Edward A. Palzik, the lawyer representing Trump in the civil lawsuit, could not be immediately contacted for comment.
A spokesman for Paramount Chair Shari Redstone was similarly unable to reach a comment.
The incident began mediation in April.
Trump claimed that the compilation of the CBS interview violated Texas’ deceptive trade practices and consumer protection laws, making it illegal to use commercially false, misleading or deceptive behavior. Media advocacy groups said the novel use of such laws on Trump’s news outlets could be a way to circumvent legal protections for the press.
The settlement will require approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission as Paramount prepares for a $8.4 billion merger with SkyDance Media. On last year’s campaign trail, Trump threatened to revoke CBS’s broadcast license if elected.
He repeatedly assaults news media, often casting unfavourable reports as “fake news.”
The Paramount settlement follows a decision by Walt Disney-owned ABC News to resolve a Trump-stricken defamatory case. As part of that settlement, which was released on December 14th, the network has donated $15 million to Trump’s Presidential Library and publicly apologized for comments by anchor George Stephanopoulos.
It also follows a second settlement by Facebook and Instagram parent company Metaplatform. On January 29, he said he agreed to pay around $25 million to resolve a Trump lawsuit over the suspension of company accounts following the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump vowed to pursue more claims to the media.
On December 17th, he filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Registered Newspaper and its previous top votes over the vote issued on November 2nd. The suit seeks an order prohibiting unspecified damages and engagement in “continuous deceptive and misleading conduct and practices” related to polling.
A Des Moines registrar said the organization supported the report and there was no merit in the lawsuit.
On June 30, Trump dropped the federal lawsuit and re-delegated it in Iowa court.
(Reporting by Helen Coster and Jack Queen of New York, edited by Kanjik Gauche and Survi Misra of Bengaluru, Norleen Walder, Rod Nickel and Kate Mayberry)
