Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks on Wednesday insisted the $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump to squash his $20 billion lawsuit saved the company from “reputational damage.”
But network insiders weren’t buying it.
They slammed parent company Paramount’s capitulation over the controversial “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris and said the brand has already been tarnished.
“What the f-k is he talking about? The damage has already been done,” a veteran CBS journalist told The Post on Wednesday. “Trump has trashed them for what a year now? (Cheeks) can spin it any way he wants.”
A second CBS insider lamented: “It’s a sad day for the journalistic community. The reputational damage to ’60 Minutes’ is seismic.”
Cheeks, the CEO of CBS and part of the three-headed hydra running Paramount, spoke hours after the media giant agreed late Tuesday night to to pay Trump $16 million — the same amount ABC forked over to the president in December to settle a defamation suit.
On a conference call during the company’s annual shareholders meeting, Cheeks said the move helped CBS avoid a costly legal battle and “an adverse” judgment that could produce “significant financial as well as reputational damage.”
The network will also set aside another $15 million to $20 million for public service announcements in support of conservative causes in the future, sources told The Post’s Charles Gasparino on Wednesday.
Aside from the financial hit, the settlement in the lawsuit, filed in Texas last December, will also force the network to promptly release full, unedited transcripts of future presidential candidates’ interviews — referred to as the “Trump Rule,” sources told The Post.
However, CBS was able to squirm out of having to apologize over Trump’s allegation that “60 Minutes” deceptively edited the Harris sit-down weeks before the election to make her sound more coherent — a hot button issue that has roiled the network.
“There’s 16 million apologies in the settlement. Trump got two heads. He got Bill Owens’ head and he got Wendy McMahon’s head and he got $16 million,” one of the network insiders said.
Owens, the longtime executive producer of “60 Minutes” resigned in April, citing a loss of journalistic independence as Paramount was embroiled in settlement talks with Trump.
His former boss, CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon, stepped down a month later, saying it became “clear” that she and the company didn’t agree on a “path forward.”
Another CBS source with knowledge of the situation credited Cheeks for moving past this dark chapter in the Tiffany Network’s history and helping to clear a major hurdle for Paramount’s pending $8 billion merger with independent studio Skydance Media.
Cheeks is expected to take a leadership role at the company once the Skydance deal goes through.
“George did what he had to do to get the merger done,” the source said. “He was told he had to clean house in leadership. He was told he needed to change the editorial policy. Sacrifices had to be made to get the lawsuit settled and George made them. The money is just part of the story.”
CBS will not have to acknowledge any journalistic wrongdoing with the settlement.
“The settlement will include a release of all claims regarding any CBS reporting through the date of the settlement, including the Texas action and the threatened defamation action,” Paramount said in a statement.
Attention will now turn to the Federal Communications Commission. Trump-appointed chair Brendan Carr launched a probe into whether the network violated the agency’s “news distortion” policy after a conservative group filed a complaint over the alleged deceptive editing.
Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, is poised to walk away with about $1.75 billion if the merger is approved.
Sources speculated that with the lawsuit behind Paramount, the merger will get regulatory approval in the coming weeks.
“I think Shari Redstone and George Cheeks are wiping their hands of CBS News,” one of the sources said.
“The new owners are inheriting a greatly diminished asset.”
A rep for Paramount said: “This lawsuit is completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process. We will abide by the legal process to defend our case.”
Redstone, 71, may be leaving her media empire, but she will be rewarded with some of the trappings of her high-flying life
Skydance and its investor in the deal, RedBird Capital Partners, agreed to take on National Amusements’ financial obligations and pay for the remainder of Redstone’s lease for her private jet, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Hollywood production company also will cover the expenses for her Central Park-area apartment in New York City for the next few years, according to reports.
The merger between Skydance and Paramount has been a prolonged process with both sides finally agreeing to a deal last June after fits and starts.
