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Longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft and “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart bashed Paramount Global and CBS’ eight-figure settlement with President Donald Trump as giving into a “shakedown” on Monday.
Kroft appeared on Paramount-owned Comedy Central to discuss the settlement with Stewart, who didn’t pull punches when discussing his own employer. Kroft, who retired from the show in 2019 after a 30-year run, said his former colleagues are devastated that CBS and its parent company settled Trump’s “election interference” lawsuit.
“I think there is a lot of fear over there… fear of losing their job, fear of what’s happening to the country, fear of losing the First Amendment,” Kroft said.
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The lawsuit alleged CBS News deceitfully edited a “60 Minutes” interview last year with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in order to make her appear more articulate ahead of Election Day. Many legal experts and Paramount’s own attorneys insisted the lawsuit was meritless, but CBS’ parent company settled it anyway.
Kroft and Stewart insisted that “60 Minutes” did nothing wrong and emphasized that CBS didn’t issue an apology as part of the settlement.
“They never said, ‘We screwed up,’ they just paid the money,” Kroft said.
“It was a shakedown. That’s what I call it,” he continued. “Some people call it extortion.”
Paramount’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone reportedly pushed for the settlement in hopes of paving the way for Trump’s FCC to approve a long-planned, lucrative merger with David Ellison’s Skydance Media.
Fox News Digital has learned that the sum being paid to Trump could reach north of $30 million, with $16 million being paid upfront for his future presidential library, in addition to another eight-figure allocation set aside for advertisements, public service announcements or other similar transmissions, in support of conservative causes paid for by the network’s incoming ownership in the future.
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Stewart asked Kroft if the settlement was simply a payment designed in order to push the merger through. The “60 Minutes” icon suggested Redstone “wanted the sale to go through” so she could pocket roughly $2 billion, but Trump planned to “settle a score.”
“He was upset with ’60 Minutes,’ and he decided he was going to sue,” Kroft said.
“So the implication is, you don’t get your $8 billion merger, you don’t get your $2 billion payout unless you give me a tremendous amount of money,” Stewart responded.
“That strikes me as – and I’m obviously not a lawyer – but I did watch ‘Goodfellas,’ that sounds illegal,” Stewart said.
Kroft shot back, “Yes, it does.”
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Paramount has defended the settlement.
“Companies often settle litigation to avoid the high and somewhat unpredictable costs of legal defense, the risk of an adverse judgment that could result in significant financial or reputational damage, and the disruption to business operations that prolonged legal battles can cause. Settlement offers a negotiated resolution that allows companies to focus on their core objectives rather than being mired in uncertainty and distraction,” a Paramount spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
ABC also settled a defamation lawsuit in December with then-President-elect Trump for $15 million, after anchor George Stephanopoulos repeatedly and incorrectly asserted Trump had been found “liable for rape” in a civil trial last year. ABC additionally paid $1 million for President Trump’s legal fees.
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