
Paramount to pay £11m in settlement with Trump over Kamala Harris interview
Mr Trump's lawyer said the president had suffered 'mental anguish' over the editing of the interview which was broadcast in October on the CBS News show 60 Minutes.
In a case seen as a challenge to free speech, Paramount and CBS rejected Mr Trump's contention that the interview was edited to enhance how Ms Harris sounded and had sought to get the president's lawsuit dismissed.
Under the settlement, reached with help of a mediator, Paramount agreed that 60 Minutes will release transcripts of future interviews with presidential candidates, 'subject to redactions as required for legal and national security concerns', CBS News said.
Mr Trump, who did not agree to be interviewed by 60 Minutes during the presidential campaign, protested over editing which showed Ms Harris giving two different answers to a question from interviewer Bill Whitaker in separate clips aired on 60 Minutes and Face The Nation earlier in the day.
CBS said both replies came as part of Ms Harris's long answer to Whitaker, but the clip was edited to be more succinct.
The president's lawyer, Edward Andrew Paltzik, said that caused confusion and 'mental anguish', misleading voters and causing them to pay less attention to Mr Trump and his Truth Social platform.
Paramount and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone were seeking the settlement with Mr Trump, whose administration must approve the company's proposed merger with Skydance Media.
CBS News president and chief executive Wendy McMahon and 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens, who both opposed a settlement, have resigned in recent weeks.
The case has been closely watched by advocates for press freedom and journalists at CBS, whose lawyers called the lawsuit 'completely without merit' and pledged to fight it after it was filed.
The Freedom of the Press Foundation, a media advocacy group that says it is a Paramount shareholder, said it would file a lawsuit in protest if a settlement was reached.
In December, ABC News settled a defamation lawsuit by the president over statements made by anchor George Stephanopoulos, agreeing to pay 15 million dollars (£11 million) towards Mr Trump's presidential library rather than engage in a public dispute.
Meta reportedly paid 25 million dollars (£18 million) to settle another Trump lawsuit over the tech firm's decision to suspend his social media accounts after the riot at the US Capitol on January 6 2021.

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