Former Paramount controlling shareholder Shari Redstone said the decision for her company to settle a CBS lawsuit brought by Donald Trump was a “no-brainer” on the path to a deal to sell to Skydance, and that she was “blown away” the settlement was only for $16 million.
The comments on the subject were revealed Tuesday in a long piece in the New York Times, which culled months of interviews with Redstone both during and after the process for the eventual $8 billion sale to David Ellison’s company that closed earlier this month.
Redstone hadn’t done an interview or made a public appearance in nearly a year.
The settlement ended a $20 billion lawsuit filed by Trump in Texas over the way that CBS News‘ 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 presidential election. The agreement contained no apology but called for Paramount to pay $16 million to Trump’s future presidential library.
Redstone, who earlier had removed herself from the Trump settlement talks to avoid the appearance of conflict with the merger in the works, said she was pleased with the outcome, and that she was “blown away” by the final number. She told the NYT of the eventual agreement, “How did they do it?” “I don’t know, and I didn’t ask.”
She told the NYT that she was well aware of the criticism over the timing of the settlement and the appearance of capitulation to Trump and his administration, but said Redstone told the NYT the settlement was a “no-brainer” and felt critics weren’t aware of all the elements that went into the decision.
Soon after the settlement was announced, the Paramount-Skydance deal, which had been languishing before the FCC — the final regulatory step in the process — moved forward. The agency approved the deal in late July after a meeting with Skydance’s David Ellison, and a week after the news that Paramount’s CBS had decided to end The Late Show with Stephen Colbert hosted by a frequent Trump critic (the company insists that the deal was for financial reasons, but the NYT says that while Redstone says didn’t necessarily disagree with the Colbert decision, she was distressed that she was not consulted before that ax dropped).
The Skydance deal was formerly announced August 7.
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