The 60 Minutes star who wept after CBS settled Trump lawsuit for $16m
During a Wednesday morning meeting with 60 Minutes staff, Bill Whitaker, 73, appeared 'teary-eyed as he spoke about the institution he loves,' Status reported.
The meeting, with with CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and interim Executive Producer Tanya Simon, occurred just hours after parent company Paramount agreed to the multimillion-dollar settlement.
Trump's lawsuit, seen by many experts as frivolous and sure to fail, claimed that Whittaker's October 2024 interview with Harris ahead of the presidential election was deceptively edited.
Whittaker, described as 'quite somber' at Wednesday's meeting, was joined by fellow 60 Minutes correspondents Lesley Stahl and Sharyn Alfonsi in addressing the 'dispirited staff.'
The pair expressed 'deep frustration and dismay' at the decision to settle a suit 'widely regarded across the legal community as absurd,' Status reported.
The settlement was seen as necessary to complete Paramount's proposed $8billion media merger with Skydance, which requires approval by the Trump administration.
Paramount brass had reportedly worried that any large settlement could be considered a bribe.
Whittaker was the one to preside over the Kamala Harris segment at the center of the just-settled lawsuit brought by Donald Trump
At another meeting the same day, Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks defended the settlement.
'Look, companies often settle litigation to avoid the high and somewhat unpredictable cost of legal defense, the risk of an adverse judgment that could result in significant financial as well as reputational damage and the disruption to business operations that prolonged legal battles can cause,' he said, speaking to investors at Paramount's annual shareholder meeting.
Cheeks also noted that the settlement did not include an apology to Trump, something the president had previously demanded.
At the gathering with 60 Minutes staff, Cibrowski and Simon vowed to protect the show's editorial independence going forward.
'The concern is what happens next,' one 60 Minutes staffer told Status, of the prospect of shakeups at the network following the merger.
'Is this it? Or [does Skydance] say we are going to bring a new person in and start tinkering around with this show.'
'The institution could unravel,' the employee warned.
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