Latest news with #DavidEllison
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Claims Outrageous '60 Minutes' Settlement Includes Ads, Too
President Donald Trump on Thursday claimed that a settlement for his '60 Minutes' lawsuit ― which consisted of a $16 million payout largely to his presidential library ― was actually worth significantly more because it also included advertising that CBS would eventually run. 'We did a deal for about $16 million plus $16 million, or maybe more than that in advertising. So it's a combination of 16 plus 16 plus. So it's like $32 [million] to maybe $35 million,' Trump said, according to a pool report from The Washington Post's Cat Zakrzewski. Trump also praised David Ellison, the son of one of his close allies and the chief executive at Skydance Media, an independent studio that's attempting to merge with Paramount, CBS News' parent company. Trump's comments appear to reference a 'side deal' reported by New York Post's Charles Gasparino, who broke the news about an alleged offer that Ellison put forth. Gasparino's report stated Ellison promised to run between '$15 million and $20 million of public service ads [on CBS] to promote causes supported by the president' once his company's merger with Paramount was complete. Paramount has denied any such offerings in its official settlement, however, and a source familiar with the situation has also contested Trump's claims to Variety. 'Contrary to some news reports or media speculation, Paramount's settlement with President Trump does not include PSAs or anything related to PSAs,' the company said in a statement on July 2. 'Paramount has no knowledge of any promises or commitments made to President Trump other than those set forth in the settlement proposed by the mediator and accepted by the parties. The material terms of the settlement agreement in principle are those disclosed by us yesterday.' A source familiar with the situation also told Variety the assertion that the settlement was worth more than $16 million was false. That source said neither Paramount or Skydance Media had pledged free ads to Trump. A Skydance representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Gasparino has written that Paramount's lack of knowledge about a 'side deal' enabled the company's leaders to avoid the appearance of bribery. Skydance Media is currently in the process of completing an $8 billion merger with Paramount, a move that will require approval from the Trump Administration's Federal Communications Commission. Previously, Paramount executives had reportedly expressed concerns about charges of bribery if they settled with Trump in the lawsuit he filed alleging election interference by the CBS News program '60 Minutes' due to its editing of an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. CBS attorneys have previously dismissed Trump's lawsuit as 'meritless.' The rumblings about a 'side deal' come as Paramount's settlement with Trump has been widely criticized for undermining press independence and posing a possible conflict of interest. Any agreement that also includes millions worth of favorable ads for Trump is only set to add to this scrutiny. Trump on Thursday denied the settlement was related to approval of the pending merger. Democrats, meanwhile, have called for the settlement to be investigated given the circumstances surrounding it. 'Paramount just paid Trump a bribe for merger approval. When Democrats retake power, I'll be first in line calling for federal charges,' Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) previously wrote on Bluesky. 'In the meantime, state prosecutors should make the corporate execs who sold out our democracy answer in court.' Dan Rather Calls '60 Minutes' Settlement A 'Sell-Out To Extortion By The President' Bernie Sanders Rips 'Extremely Dangerous' Paramount-Trump Settlement: 'Government Extortion' Paramount Agrees To Pay Trump $16 Million In Outrageous Settlement
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump claims he struck side deal with Skydance for additional $16 million in ‘60 Minutes' settlement
Donald Trump all but confirmed a report that he struck a 'side deal' with the soon-to-be owners of Paramount over the 60 Minutes lawsuit, claiming that Skydance Media's supposed promise to run public service ads in support of the president would place the settlement amount at roughly $35 million. In a long-expected but still heavily denounced capitulation to the president, Paramount – which is finalizing an $8 billion mega-merger with Skydance that needs the Trump administration's approval – agreed to pay Trump's future presidential library $16 million (minus legal fees) to settle his lawsuit against CBS News that the network's own lawyers called 'meritless.' While Paramount specified that the settlement didn't include any apology for the interview with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris at the center of the 'frivolous' complaint, nor was any money paid directly to the president, Fox Business correspondent Charles Gasparino soon reported that Skydance owner David Ellison – son of Trump-backing billionaire Larry Ellison – added a secret sweetener to the agreement. According to Gasparino, the younger Ellison – who now expects to take over Paramount and CBS within the next few weeks – agreed to 'run between $15 million and $20 million of public service ads to promote causes supported by the president' once the merger is complete. 'Paramount knows nothing about the alleged side deal between Trump\Ellison, had absolutely nothing to do with it, nor was it a part of what the board approved, and the mediator sanctioned,' a spokesperson for Paramount said about the reportedly clandestine pact. Of course, Paramount denying knowledge of the secret deal appears to be the entire point of the exercise – which allows the president an even bigger haul from a 'baseless' case that most legal experts said would likely get thrown out of court in the end. Additionally, as Gasparino observed, Ellison's promise to Trump could help Paramount avoid allegations of bribery as the deal was made without their knowledge. Democratic lawmakers and free press advocates have already promised congressional hearings, criminal probes and civil lawsuits on behalf of shareholders. Paramount executives had expressed concerns for months that any large settlement could place the company's board in legal peril for violating anti-bribery statutes, especially as chairwoman Shari Redstone – who was a driving force behind the settlement – looks to clear $2 billion with the merger. Speaking to reporters early Friday morning following a speech at an Iowa rally, Trump was asked about the recent settlement with Paramount and CBS – and he effectively confirmed Gasparino's reporting. 'We did a deal for about $16 million plus $16 million, or maybe more than that, in advertising... It's like $32 to maybe $35 million,' the president boasted. Trump also heaped praise on both Eillsons, gushing over his 'friend' Larry. 'I think he's going to run CBS really well, and I think he's making a good deal to buy it. I think he's great,' the president declared to the press pool before adding about David: 'He's got a son who's a fantastic young man too.' At the same time, he insisted – much like Paramount and his hand-picked Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr, who will have final say on approving the merger – that the lawsuit settlement was completely unrelated to Skydance's pending acquisition of Paramount. Meanwhile, a week before the settlement was announced, it was reported that David Ellison was bragging to his Hollywood friends that the lawsuit would be settled soon and struck an upbeat tone about the negotiations. Despite the president's claim over the weekend, there are still some conflicting accounts about the handshake deal with the younger Ellison and whether it will be honored. 'The president's claim that the settlement is worth anything more than the announced $16 million figure is false, according to a source familiar with the situation,' Variety reported. 'Neither Paramount nor Skydance Media has agreed to grant free advertising airtime to Trump, the source said.' Representatives for Skydance Media did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Still, whether CBS will be running millions of dollars of pro-Trump ads or not after Skydance takes over, the fear within the newsroom – which has been roiled in turmoil for months over the Trump litigation and Paramount's surrender to the president – over the new corporate ownership is palpable. 'There is great fear about what comes next,' one CBS News staffer told CNN, a sentiment that was shared by network employees with The Independent.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Trump claims he struck side deal with Skydance for additional $16 million in ‘60 Minutes' settlement
Donald Trump all but confirmed a report that he struck a 'side deal' with the soon-to-be owners of Paramount over the 60 Minutes lawsuit, claiming that Skydance Media's supposed promise to run public service ads in support of the president would place the settlement amount at roughly $35 million. In a long-expected but still heavily denounced capitulation to the president, Paramount – which is finalizing an $8 billion mega-merger with Skydance that needs the Trump administration's approval – agreed to pay Trump's future presidential library $16 million (minus legal fees) to settle his lawsuit against CBS News that the network's own lawyers called 'meritless.' While Paramount specified that the settlement didn't include any apology for the interview with Kamala Harris at the center of the 'frivolous' complaint, nor was any money paid directly to the president, Fox Business correspondent Charles Gasparino soon reported that Skydance owner David Ellison – son of Trump-backing billionaire Larry Ellison – added a secret sweetener to the agreement. According to Gasparino, the younger Ellison – who now expects to take over Paramount and CBS within the next few weeks – agreed to 'run between $15 million and $20 million of public service ads to promote causes supported by the president' once the merger is complete. 'Paramount knows nothing about the alleged side deal between Trump\Ellison, had absolutely nothing to do with it, nor was it a part of what the board approved, and the mediator sanctioned,' a spokesperson for Paramount said about the reportedly clandestine pact. Of course, Paramount denying knowledge of the secret deal appears to be the entire point of the exercise – which allows the president an even bigger haul from a 'baseless' case that most legal experts said would likely get thrown out of court in the end. Additionally, as Gasparino observed, Ellison's promise to Trump could help Paramount avoid allegations of bribery as the deal was made without their knowledge. Democratic lawmakers and free press advocates have already promised congressional hearings, criminal probes and civil lawsuits on behalf of shareholders. Paramount executives had expressed concerns for months that any large settlement could place the company's board in legal peril for violating anti-bribery statutes, especially as chairwoman Shari Redstone – who was a driving force behind the settlement – looks to clear $2 billion with the merger. Speaking to reporters on early Friday morning following a speech at an Iowa rally, Trump was asked about the recent settlement with Paramount and CBS – and he effectively confirmed Gasparino's reporting. 'We did a deal for about $16 million plus $16 million, or maybe more than that, in advertising... It's like $32 to maybe $35 million,' the president boasted. Trump also heaped praise on both Eillsons, gushing over his 'friend' Larry. 'I think he's going to run CBS really well, and I think he's making a good deal to buy it. I think he's great,' the president declared to the press pool before adding about David: 'He's got a son who's a fantastic young man too.' At the same time, he insisted – much like Paramount and his hand-picked FCC chairman Brendan Carr, who will have final say on approving the merger – that the lawsuit settlement was completely unrelated to Skydance's pending acquisition of Paramount. Meanwhile, a week before the settlement was announced, it was reported that David Ellison was bragging to his Hollywood friends that the lawsuit would be settled soon and struck an upbeat tone about the negotiations. Despite the president's claim over the weekend, there are still some conflicting accounts about the handshake deal with the younger Ellison and whether it will be honored. 'The president's claim that the settlement is worth anything more than the announced $16 million figure is false, according to a source familiar with the situation,' Variety reported. 'Neither Paramount nor Skydance Media has agreed to grant free advertising airtime to Trump, the source said.' Representatives for Skydance Media did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Still, whether CBS will be running millions of dollars of pro-Trump ads or not after Skydance takes over, the fear within the newsroom – which has been roiled in turmoil for months over the Trump litigation and Paramount's surrender to the president – over the new corporate ownership is palpable.
New York Post
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Post
Expect CBS News to undergo a major overhaul under Skydance boss David Ellison
If it were, say, just a decade ago, cachet and power would be conferred on Skydance founder and CEO David Ellison, the soon-to-be chief of Paramount and its once-holy grail of TV news, CBS. Too bad it's not 10 years ago. The names Edward R. Murrow, Mike Wallace and Walter Cronkite — the people who built CBS News into the paragon of TV journalism — might come up in casual conversations among old-timers like yours truly, reminiscing about how network news once controlled the political and social agenda. Or maybe they would surface in a journalism class after CBS's current management last week settled a weird lawsuit, filed by President Trump, in order to keep in the good graces of the White House and get the Skydance-Paramount merger through his FCC regulators. But I can guarantee that the 42-year-old Ellison — the son of mega-billionaire Larry Ellison of Oracle fame, who is a MAGA supporter of the president — isn't thinking about the CBS News legacy as he prepares to complete his $8 billion combo. In fact, from what I hear, continuing in the grand tradition of Murrow, Wallace and Cronkite is not at the top of Ellison's mind because, for one, it ain't so grand any longer, and two (maybe most important), he knows it's a lousy business. It's not worth the trouble that it generates. We don't even know if it's profitable since Paramount doesn't disclose the news division's P&L statements. Plus, its product has moved so far to the left that it angers more than half the country. Full disclosure: I don't know David Ellison personally but people I trust do, and they tell me he's substantive, much more than a lucky sperm kid that being Larry's son confers. His independent studio Skydance has produced such recent blockbusters as 'Top Gun: Maverick' and 'Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.' He doesn't get his news from TikTok — far from it. For the time being, he wants to keep the news division but also move away from its progressive leanings. (A person close to him says look for investments in 'truth-based' news.) He does appreciate the CBS News legacy that he is about to buy — as long as the numbers are working and he believes they aren't, I am told. Sports as crown jewel And that's where things could get scary for the news division. Ellison, I am told, equates CBS with football more than he does with Cronkite. If he's looking to grow stuff, he and his point man in running the new company, former NBCU chief Jeff Shell, are looking at CBS Sports as the tip of the spear. Everything else is about to get the mother of all efficiency reviews, my sources say. Layoffs are likely, as are smaller salaries and squeezed budgets. In Ellison's worldview, CBS News' legacy has cachet but when an anchor like Tony Dokoupil gets upbraided by management — as he did last year — for questioning the work of far left author Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Coates' rationalization of the Oct. 7 massacre, something needs to change. It's been a long road from the time Ellison first bid on Paramount, the fading media empire created by dealmaker Sumner Redstone and left to his daughter, Shari. About two years ago David saw a distressed property he could buy on the cheap, decimated more than most of big media by cord-cutting and the vicissitudes of the business, but with prominent legacy properties and a major studio. Initially, Shari was a reluctant seller. She soon came to understand that Paramount's fortunes weren't getting better and her own fortune was evaporating fast. Ellison has the money (his dad's and a partner in private equity firm RedBird Capital) to make the new company work, and help her preserve a semblance of her dad's fortune. With Shari out of the way, Ellison then had to deal with the incoming Trump administration. The president and his dad are famously pals, Larry being a long-time political supporter. But friendship only goes so far in assuaging Trump's hatred for many elements of the mainstream media, and CBS is at the top of his hate list. Conservatives have for years complained about the increasing bias of CBS that went beyond the adversarial nature of Murrow, etc. Trump was the first to do something about it. With the deal facing a regulatory review, his Federal Communications Commission opened an investigation into bias at CBS since it operates over public airwaves (as opposed to cable), examining whether its news meets 'public interest' guidelines, and throttled the deal. Trump also personally sued the network over a '60 Minutes' interview with his 2024 Democratic opponent Kamala Harris, saying the new magazine deceptively edited her infamous word-salad answers. OK, maybe it did. But Trump won the election so where are the 'damages'? Regulatory OK coming Yet, as everyone who has been following my reporting knows, the lawsuit was inextricably tied to getting the deal done and Shari paid. Now that it has been settled — for $16 million plus the expectation of much more in public service ads for pro-Trump causes — word is the regulatory nod is coming in a few weeks. When that happens, Shari pockets about $2 billion, which sounds like a lot until you realize she was probably worth more than $40 billion when she inherited the property. Paramount and CBS will then be Ellison's problem. If I were in the news division, I would be afraid, very afraid.
Bloomberg
02-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Paramount's Fate Moves to FCC, Where Media Bias and DEI Loom Large
By Kelcee Griffis and Save Paramount Global, the parent of CBS and MTV, must clear one more big hurdle to complete its sale to independent film and TV producer David Ellison. The Federal Communications Commission must approve the transfer of the company's broadcast licenses. The agency, whose chairman was appointed by President Donald Trump, has raised questions about news bias inside the media company, along with concerns about the legality of its diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
