“60 Minutes” is planning to air another critical segment on Sunday about President Trump’s targeting of law firms with executive orders — even as corporate-parent Paramount Global is in talks to settle a high-stakes lawsuit with the president.
Correspondent Scott Pelley — who recently accused Paramount of editorial interference — is leading the report, which is described by the CBS-run show as look at how Trump is “using executive orders to target some of the biggest law firms in the country that he accuses of ‘weaponizing’ the justice system against him.”
Pelley made news last Sunday when he called out his bosses on-air, accusing them of interfering with the program’s coverage, which led to the departure of “60 Minutes” boss Bill Owens — who also claimed a loss of journalistic independence.
“Bill made sure they [the show’s reports] were accurate and fair,” Pelley told viewers. “He was tough that way, but our parent company Paramount is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways. None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he had lost the independence that honest journalism requires.”
Sources said Parmamount boss Shari Redstone has expressed concerns to CBS CEO George Cheeks over critical segments of Trump and his policies, asking if the program could wait to run them until after the merger between Paramount and Skydance Media was complete.
But concerns from higher ups come as the president has attacked “60 Minutes” over a host of segments.
There is no evidence of increased oversight of “60 Minutes” that has caused the show to change its programming, nor has Cheeks ever tried to execute her request, however.
Reps for CBS and Redstone declined to comment.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Paramount and Trump have started mediation to try to resolve the president’s $20 billion lawsuit against the network over the way that “60 Minutes” edited a sitdown with then-Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris last fall.
CEO George Cheeks. Variety via Getty Images
The settlement talks are taking place as Paramount seeks approval of its merger with Skydance from the Federal Communications Commission, which is also probing the Harris interview for complaints of “news distortion.”
The Harris segment, which ran in October, received a News and Documentary Emmy nomination earlier today for outstanding edited interview.
Sources told The Post that Trump is looking for $100 million to settle the lawsuit — much more than what Paramount is currently willing to give.
As previously reported by The Post, Paramount is hoping to settle for betweek $15 million and $25 million — which is what Trump settled recent lawsuits with Disney’s ABC and Meta earlier this year.
Credit: Source link
