WASHINGTON: A group of US senators sent a letter to Shari Redstone, the chair media and entertainment company Paramount, on Monday (May 19), seeking information about the CBS News owner’s efforts to settle a lawsuit with US President Donald Trump.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Ron Wyden are asking whether Paramount’s potential attempts to resolve the high profile lawsuit could violate federal anti-bribery laws, according to the letter seen by Reuters.
CBS News faces a US$ 20 billion lawsuit from President Trump over its editing of it’s 60 Minutes show interview in October 2024 with then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
This lawsuit is seen as a major roadblock to a Paramount and Skydance Media merger, according to some analysts.
Paramount has also entered mediation in April to try and settle the lawsuit. The US$8.4 billion merger needs approval from the US Federal Communications Commission.
The federal agency has authority over the transaction because it needs to approve the transfer of the broadcast television licenses held by CBS. The deal was extended for 90 days, as the companies await regulatory approval.
A spokesperson for Paramount Global declined to comment on the letter but has previously said that the “lawsuit is completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) approval process”.
Meanwhile, CBS News President and Chief Executive Wendy McMahon is stepping down from her position, telling staffers that she and the company have differing views on the path forward.
Bill Owens, the network’s long-time executive producer of 60 Minutes, has also announced his departure over editorial independence concerns.
“Paramount appears to have begun overseeing CBS’s content, presumably in order to screen it for content that could anger the Trump Administration,” the letter said. A spokesperson for Redstone also declined to comment.
