#ShariRedstone, the company’s controlling #shareholder, has said she favors settling the case. She is set to receive a major #payday in a pending #sale of Paramount to a Hollywood studio, #Skydance, that requires sign-off from the #Trump admin. Any settlement would ultimately require the board’s approval, & Redstone has told the board that she is *recusing* herself from deliberations related to the lawsuit.

#Legal experts have called the suit baseless & an easy victory for #CBS. But #Paramount is entering the talks prepared to make a deal.

In an April 18 meeting, the Paramount board outlined acceptable financial terms for a potential settlement w/ #Trump, acc/to 3 people…. The exact dollar amounts remain unclear, but the board’s move clears a path for an out-of-court resolution.

#Capitulation #Appeasement #Disgrace
Lawyers for #Trump & #Paramount, the parent company of #CBSNews, are set to begin mediation on Wednesday over a lawsuit brought by Trump that accuses “#60Minutes” of *deceptively* [accurately] editing an interview with his 2024 Democratic opponent, #KamalaHarris.

#law #journalism #ethics #FourthEstate #BillOwens #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #FreePress #democracy #autocracy #dictatorship #censorship #StateMedia #propaganda
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/business/media/paramount-cbs-60-minutes-trump-lawsuit.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=4F0A1033-7C72-43C9-B834-781E1210163C

@MEActNOW
RE
#60minutes #BillOwens

"Bill felt, he lost the independence that honest journalism requires"

@MEActNOW
RE
Did you see "the end" of #60Minutes tonight

Thx for url, I did now

#BillOwens who, until this past week, was executive producer of 60 Minutes.

#CBSNews, a streaming news service from CBS News and Stations that is available free and is the destination for breaking news, live events, original reporting and storytelling, and programs...that do not upset the CBS owner #Paramount who is sucking up to #Trump to allow a merger

In his memo on Tues, #BillOwens pledged that “‘#60Minutes’ will continue to cover the new #Trump admin, as we will report on future administrations” [though seriously? Ge cannot guarantee that if he isn’t there]. He added: “The show is too important to the country. It has to continue, just not with me as the executive producer.”

#Legal experts have dismissed that suit as baseless & far-fetched [ya don’t say], & #BillOwens said in Feb that he would not apologize as part of any prospective settlement. Many #journalists at #CBSNews — the former home of #WalterCronkite & #MikeWallace — believe that a settlement would amount to a #capitulation to #Trump over what they consider standard-issue gripes about editorial judgment.

“So, having defended this show—& what we stand for—from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward,” #BillOwens wrote in the memo, which was obtained by NYT.

“#60Minutes” has faced mounting pressure in recent months from both #Trump, who sued #CBS for $10B & has accused the program of “unlawful & illegal behavior,” & its own #corporate owner at #Paramount, the parent company of #CBSNews.

In an extraordinary declaration, #BillOwens —only the 3rd person to run the program in its 57-year history—told his staff in a memo that “over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make #independent decisions based on what was right for ‘#60Minutes,’ right for the audience.”