Skydance Media executive Jeff Shell pressured CBS News brass to release the “60 Minutes” transcript ahead of his company’s merger with the network’s parent Paramount Global, according to a report.
Shell, who is slated to grab the reins as president of the merged company, pushed CBS News chief Wendy McMahon and “60 Minutes” boss Bill Owens to release the transcript of the sitdown with then-Vice President Kamala Harris amid calls from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, Status reported Tuesday.
Shell convened the meeting last October while Trump was making claims that “60 Minutes” “deceptively edited” the Harris interview to benefit his democratic challenger, but McMahon and Owens pushed back, persuading the exec that folding under political rpessure would be a bad move.
The meeting left McMahon and Owens shaken by Shell’s insertion into newsroom decision-making given that the merger had yet to close, the report said. They were also on edge that the former NBCUniversal CEO felt that the Tiffany Network should simply appease Trump, as they argued that there was no foul play on the Harris interview.
Trump ultimately sued CBS to release the transcripts, recently raising his damages claims to $20 billion, and he clinched the presidency shortly after. Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr, who will decide if the merger can go through, also pressured the network to release the transcript, which it did in February.
Since then, Shell and current Paramount boss Shari Redstone have pressured the network to settle the lawsuit with Trump — even though “60 Minutes’” did not reveal any doctoring, just a cleaning up of Harris’ jumbled responses — sources told The Post.
The case is currently before a mediator, who is facilitating discussions between both sides about a possible settlement.
Both Shell and Redstone want the deal to go through but Owens and McMahon believe they have done nothing wrong and that caving to Trump would damage the journalistic integrity of “60 Minutes.” What’s more, Owens has expressed clearly that he would not apologize as part of any settlement.
Some insiders wondered if the “60 Minutes” executive producer could be on the chopping block, but others brushed off that notion.
Meanwhile, McMahon, too has expressed resistance behind the scenes, even as sources told The Post that her job may be on the line due to several missteps, once the deal is greenlit.
Staffers at the network have balked at the notion of settling with Trump and have voiced their concerns even as Carr has opened a probe into the Harris edit and opened it up for public comment.
The pushback from McMahon and Owens contrasts to how many other media and tech leaders in recent months. Disney CEO Bob Iger moved to settle a defamation lawsuit that Trump filed against ABC News while both Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta and Elon Musk’s X both settled their own suits with Trump.
