Paramount Global/Skydance merger - Variety; CBS Chief George Cheeks Addresses Paramount’s Trump Lawsuit Settlement: Deal Allows Company to Focus on ‘Core Objectives,’ Avoid ‘Reputational Damage’

Story from Variety:

Nine hours after Paramount Global announced a $16 million payment to President Donald Trump to settle his “60 Minutes” lawsuit, Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks — who is the head of CBS — defended the pact at the media company’s 2025 annual shareholder meeting.

“Companies often settle litigation to avoid the high and somewhat unpredictable cost of legal defense,” as well as running the risk of “an adverse judgment” that could produce “significant financial as well as reputational damage,” Cheeks said, in a response to an investor question about why Paramount settled the lawsuit.

“Settlement offers a negotiated resolution to allow companies to focus on their core objectives rather than being mired in uncertainty and distraction,” Cheeks said, in what appeared to be a scripted statement. He noted that the Trump settlement does not include an apology over the “60 Minutes” episode.

While Cheeks cited the avoidance of “reputational damage” as a reason the company agreed to a settlement with the president, CBS News’ own employees are concerned that the $16 million payout will tarnish the “60 Minutes” brand (even as they expressed relief that the Trump settlement did not encompass an apology).

Paramount and CBS had previously attempted to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit and characterized it as baseless. Trump, who filed the lawsuit less than a week before the 2024 election, had sought a staggering $20 billion in damages.

Late Tuesday, Paramount announced that it agreed to pay $16 million to Trump to settle his “60 Minutes” lawsuit, which alleged the CBS News program had misleadingly edited clips from an interview with Kamala Harris. Trump asserted that the “60 Minutes” edited segments violated a Texas consumer protection law by distorting voters’ impressions of Harris’ competence. Under the settlement, Paramount and CBS will not issue a “statement of apology or regret,” as Trump’s lawyers had been pushing for.

“Paramount has reached an agreement in principle to resolve the lawsuit filed by President Trump and Representative Jackson in the Northern District of Texas and a threatened defamation action concerning a separate ’60 Minutes’ report,” Paramount Global said in a statement Tuesday.

At the annual meeting Wednesday, Paramount’s three co-CEOs — Cheeks, along with Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, and Paramount Pictures head Brian Robbins — provided remarks at the start and took a handful of questions. The virtual meeting started at 9 a.m. Eastern and concluded less than a half hour later.

“2025 is set to be our best year yet,” McCarthy told investors during his portion of the presentation. Paramount Global chair Shari Redstone, the company’s controlling shareholder, did not speak at the meeting.

The settlement is seen as paving the way for Paramount to finally close its deal that will see it merge with Skydance Media, led by CEO David Ellison. The pact still requires approval by the FCC, headed by chairman Brendan Carr, who is an ally of Trump.

“As the FCC continues its review of the Skydance transactions, we remain focused on delivering high-performing hits, supporting our creative culture, and driving value for shareholders,” Redstone and Paramount’s three co-CEOs wrote in a letter to shareholders shared at the meeting. The letter didn’t mention “60 Minutes,” CBS News or the Trump lawsuit.

The Paramount leaders said they “executed our stated goal of $500 million in annual run-rate cost savings” last year. That has involved several rounds of layoffs across the company, including a 15% reduction of its U.S. workforce last summer — eliminating about 2,000 jobs. Last month, Paramount axed another 3.5% of domestic staff, affecting several hundred employees.

The agenda for the July 2 shareholder meeting included the election of Paramount board members, who — because Redstone holds majority voting power at Paramount — were already guaranteed to secure seats on the board.

The slate included three new directors: Mary Boies, counsel to Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, who specializes in antitrust and corporate commercial litigation; Charles E. Ryan, founder and general partner of Almaz Capital; and Roanne Sragow Licht, a former judge and adjunct professor at Boston University and Roger Williams University. The current board members standing for reelection are Redstone, non-executive chair of Paramount Global; Barbara M. Byrne, former vice chairman of investment banking at Barclays; Linda M. Griego, CEO of Griego Enterprises, a business management company; and Susan Schuman, CEO of Kyu Consulting Group.

In the letter to shareholders, Paramount touted “significant improvement in [streaming] profitability” driven by topline growth. Paramount+ revenue grew 33% in 2024 and added 10 million new subscribers to reach 77.5 million at year-end, and direct-to-consumer streaming profitability improved by nearly $1.2 billion. The company reiterated that it expects Paramount+ to be profitable in the U.S. this year.