By Molly Claire Goddard
10:43am PDT, Jul 8, 2025
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Dan Rather is disappointed in Paramount's decision to settle with
Donald Trump. The former
CBS Evening News anchor criticized the network and its parent company for agreeing to pay the president $16 million to settle his lawsuit against them over the editing of a 2024
60 Minutes interview with
Kamala Harris.
Keep reading to learn what Rather said about the controversial decision…MORE:
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During a recent
interview, Dan Rather opened up about how unhappy he is with Paramount's decision to appease Donald Trump after the company's Chairwoman
Shari Redstone and other executives allegedly thought the lawsuit was a potential hurdle to the sale of the company to Skydance Media. "It's a sad day for journalism," the broadcasting icon explained. "It's a sad day for
60 Minutes and CBS News. I hope people will read the details of this and understand what it was. It was distortion by the President and a kneeling down and saying, 'yes, sir,' by billionaire corporate owners." Rather emphasized how caving to the Republican leader will set a dangerous precedent for journalism in the United States. "Trump knew if he put the pressure on and threatened and just held that, they would fold — because there's too much money on the table," he added. "Trump is now forcing a whole news organization to pay millions of dollars for doing something protected by the Constitution — which is, of course, free and independent reporting. Now, you take today's sell-out — and that's what it was: It was a sell-out to extortion by the president. Who can now say where all this ends?"
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Donald Trump scored a major win in his legal battle against CBS and Paramount after he sued them for $10 billion (and then $20 billion), citing "election interference." The company will be handing over $16 million including plaintiffs' fees and costs. However, the cash will be going directly toward Trump's future presidential library. "The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret," the company noted in a statement.
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In response to the legal move, Donald Trump's representatives declared, "With this record settlement, President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit. CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle."
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Many people have condemned the move by CBS and Paramount and how dangerous it will be for news reporting in America. "This is a very sad moment for
60 Minutes, CBS News and journalism," an anonymous staff member told
CNN. Said the Freedom of the Press Foundation in a statement, "Paramount's spineless decision to settle Trump's patently unconstitutional lawsuit is an insult to the First Amendment and to the journalists and viewers of
60 Minutes."
