Latest news with #TrumpSettlement
The Guardian
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Stephen Colbert on Paramount's $16m settlement with Trump: ‘Big fat bribe'
Late-night hosts rebuke Paramount's settlement with Donald Trump and mock the Maga movement infighting over the Jeffrey Epstein files. Stephen Colbert returned to The Late Show on Monday after two weeks in Turkey – 'I heard so many great things from Mayor Adams about it,' he quipped – to blast his network's parent company, Paramount, for settling with Donald Trump for $16m. 'As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended,' he said. 'And I don't know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company. But just taking a stab at it, I'd say $16m would help.' The settlement ended a 'nuisance lawsuit' filed by Trump, claiming that CBS News deceptively edited their interview with then presidential candidate Kamala Harris last fall. 'Paramount knows they could have fought it,' Colbert explained, because the company itself called the lawsuit 'completely without merit'. 'And keep in mind, Paramount produced Transformers: Rise of the Beast – they know completely without merit,' he joked. The settlement did not include an apology, though Colbert didn't equate that with defiance. He imagined a statement for them: 'You may take our money, but you will never take our dignity. You may, however, purchase our dignity for the low, low price of $16m. We need the cash.' Given that Paramount's owners are pushing the Trump administration to approve the sale of CBS to Skydance, it's a settlement by one name or, as Colbert put it, 'a big fat bribe' by another. Colbert then turned his attention to infighting in the Trump administration, after the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, released a statement that the Department of Justice and the FBI found 'no incriminating client list' of financier Jeffrey Epstein's nor 'credible evidence … that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals', thus contradicting Maga conspiracists. 'You can't take this away from your base! That is Maga's favorite conspiracy!' Colbert laughed. 'What are we going to find out next? That immigrants aren't eating cats? That if you sail to the horizon, you don't fall off the world?' In a long screed on Truth Social, Trump decried the 'selfish people' who were 'trying to hurt [Maga], all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein'. 'Wait, wait?! Maga, you heard your leader – Jeffrey Epstein is alive!' Colbert joked. 'That can mean only one thing: zombie Epstein. He's coming for our brains, and thank goodness, because I do not want to think of him any more.' 'Maga-world, for the first time in memory, isn't just slavishly acquiescing to Trump's reality distortion field,' said Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, referring to the backlash against Trump by his own base over the Epstein files his administration now claims don't exist. 'These are all people who work for Trump that set the expectation,' Stewart explained. 'In a few months' time, we went from 'the Epstein files will expose the Democrats' to 'the Epstein files were written by the Democrats and therefore can't be trusted, so let's move on'.' Stewart showed videos of Trump supporters booing the news that the Epstein files allegedly do not exist, or burning their Maga hats. 'Maga world is now in open revolt,' Stewart relished. 'Clearly telling your base to just forget about Epstein isn't working.' 'Maga is losing their shit right now,' he added. 'They cannot believe what they're seeing. Trump is lying? Dismissing reasonable concerns as bad-faith whining? Attacking anyone who disagrees?' 'As a resident of blue America, can I just say right now to my red colleagues that my pronouns are 'how does' and 'my ass taste',' he continued. 'The Trump that you're just experiencing now, to your deep disappointment and dismay, is the dude we've been dealing with the whole fucking time. You just didn't realize it because he's been nice to you.' And on Late Night, Seth Meyers also mocked the Maga infighting over Epstein, which is 'a monster of their own making', he said. 'They made the Epstein conspiracy the center of their worldview, despite the fact that Trump and Epstein were photographed together and partied together, and Trump called Epstein a 'terrific guy' and Epstein called Trump his 'closest friend for 10 years'. Maga ignored all that, and hyper-fixated on the Epstein story.' Meyers played clips of prominent Trump supporters including JD Vance, conspiracy podcast host turned deputy FBI director Dan Bongino and even Donald Trump Jr calling for the release of the so-called 'Epstein tapes'. And yet the Department of Justice no claims there is no list, which directly contradicts what Bondi said in an interview with Fox News in February: that the list was 'sitting on my desk right now to review'. Bondi now claims that it was merely the file on her desk, which did not contain a list. 'Are we really going to believe that anyone in the world would have the Epstein file on their desk and not immediately take a peek?' Meyers wondered. 'I mean, who has that kind of restraint?' 'Maga accomplished nothing, because they believe in nothing,' he concluded of the mess. 'The only two things that held them together were a cult-like devotion to Trump and their conspiracy theories. And now that those are butting up against each other, they're imploding.
The Guardian
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Stephen Colbert on Paramount's $16m settlement with Trump: ‘Big fat bribe'
Late-night hosts rebuke Paramount's settlement with Donald Trump and mock the Maga movement infighting over the Jeffrey Epstein files. Stephen Colbert returned to The Late Show on Monday after two weeks in Turkey – 'I heard so many great things from Mayor Adams about it,' he quipped – to blast his network's parent company, Paramount, for settling with Donald Trump for $16m. 'As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended,' he said. 'And I don't know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company. But just taking a stab at it, I'd say $16m would help.' The settlement ended a 'nuisance lawsuit' filed by Trump, claiming that CBS News deceptively edited their interview with then candidate Kamala Harris last fall. 'Paramount knows they could have fought it,' Colbert explained, because the company itself called the lawsuit 'completely without merit'. 'And keep in mind, Paramount produced Transformers: Rise of the Beast – they know completely without merit,' he joked. The settlement did not include an apology, though Colbert didn't equate that with defiance. He imagined a statement for them: 'You may take our money, but you will never take our dignity. You may, however, purchase our dignity for the low, low price of $16m. We need the cash.' Given that Paramount's owners are pushing the Trump administration to approve the sale of CBS to Skydance, it's a settlement by one name or, as Colbert put it, 'a big fat bribe' by another. Colbert then turned his attention to infighting in the Trump administration, after the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, released a statement that the Department of Justice and the FBI found 'no incriminating client list' of financier Jeffrey Epstein's nor 'credible evidence … that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals', thus contradicting Maga conspiracists. 'You can't take this away from your base! That is Maga's favorite conspiracy!' Colbert laughed. 'What are we going to find out next? That immigrants aren't eating cats? That if you sail to the horizon, you don't fall off the world?' In a long screed on Truth Social, Trump decried the 'selfish people' who were 'trying to hurt [Maga], all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein'. 'Wait, wait?! Maga, you heard your leader – Jeffrey Epstein is alive!' Colbert joked. 'That can mean only one thing: zombie Epstein. He's coming for our brains, and thank goodness, because I do not want to think of him any more.' 'Maga-world, for the first time in memory, isn't just slavishly acquiescing to Trump's reality distortion field,' said Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, referring to the backlash against Trump by his own base over the Epstein files his administration now claims don't exist. 'These are all people who work for Trump that set the expectation,' Stewart explained. 'In a few months' time, we went from 'the Epstein files will expose the Democrats' to 'the Epstein files were written by the Democrats and therefore can't be trusted, so let's move on'.' Stewart showed videos of Trump supporters booing the news that the Epstein files allegedly do not exist, or burning their Maga hats. 'Maga world is now in open revolt,' Stewart relished. 'Clearly telling your base to just forget about Epstein isn't working.' 'Maga is losing their shit right now,' he added. 'They cannot believe what they're seeing. Trump is lying? Dismissing reasonable concerns as bad-faith whining? Attacking anyone who disagrees?' 'As a resident of blue America, can I just say right now to my red colleagues that my pronouns are 'how does' and 'my ass taste',' he continued. 'The Trump that you're just experiencing now, to your deep disappointment and dismay, is the dude we've been dealing with the whole fucking time. You just didn't realize it because he's been nice to you.' And on Late Night, Seth Meyers also mocked the Maga infighting over Epstein, which is 'a monster of their own making', he said. 'They made the Epstein conspiracy the center of their worldview, despite the fact that Trump and Epstein were photographed together and partied together, and Trump called Epstein a 'terrific guy' and Epstein called Trump his 'closest friend for 10 years'. Maga ignored all that, and hyper-fixated on the Epstein story.' Meyers played clips of prominent Trump supporters including JD Vance, conspiracy podcast host turned deputy FBI director Dan Bongino and even Donald Trump Jr calling for the release of the so-called 'Epstein tapes'. And yet the Department of Justice no claims there is no list, which directly contradicts what Bondi said in an interview with Fox News in February: that the list was 'sitting on my desk right now to review'. Bondi now claims that it was merely the file on her desk, which did not contain a list. 'Are we really going to believe that anyone in the world would have the Epstein file on their desk and not immediately take a peek?' Meyers wondered. 'I mean, who has that kind of restraint?' 'Maga accomplished nothing, because they believe in nothing,' he concluded of the mess. 'The only two things that held them together were a cult-like devotion to Trump and their conspiracy theories. And now that those are butting up against each other, they're imploding.
Fox News
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Famed ex-'60 Minutes' producer says CBS' Trump settlement will create 'unacceptable' fear for reporters
Award-winning journalist Lowell Bergman believes Paramount Global and CBS' eight-figure settlement with President Donald Trump will spark "unacceptable" fear for "60 Minutes" reporters going forward. Bergman, a longtime producer for CBS' "60 Minutes" whose investigation of the tobacco industry was dramatized in the 1999 movie, "The Insider," appeared on "The Daily" New York Times podcast to offer his take on Paramount Global and CBS settling with Trump. Bergman was played by Al Pacino in the film, which was based on the true story of CBS legal counsel attempting to shut down his tobacco industry report to appease corporate interests. Bergman said last week's decision by Paramount to settle Trump's "election interference" lawsuit makes current CBS issues even worse. "It's nonsense, it's done to intimidate," Bergman said of Trump's $20 billion election interference lawsuit against the network. The lawsuit alleged CBS News deceitfully edited a "60 Minutes" interview last year with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in order to make her appear more articulate ahead of Election Day. Many legal experts and Paramount's own attorneys insisted the lawsuit was meritless, but CBS' parent company settled it anyway. Paramount's controlling shareholder Shari Redstone reportedly pushed for the settlement in hopes of paving the way for Trump's FCC to approve a long-planned, lucrative merger with David Ellison's Skydance Media. "It's not like a case involving tobacco, and the pressure that was coming down... this is the President of the United States, this is without precedent in the history of this country," Bergman told "The Daily." Bergman said the settlement was explained by Paramount Global and CBS in a way to make it appear like a "minor thing," when he believes it could actually have major ramifications. "Anyone working at '60 Minutes' from now on has to worry about what is going to be allowed on the air, at a level that is, how should I put it? Not acceptable," Bergman told the podcast. Bergman is hopeful "60 Minutes" can regain credibility but feels producers and journalists could be hesitant to cause any controversy. "And if the new owners who are coming in, who are going to buy, do not have a long tradition of being in the news business or being respectful of the traditions that it represents, we're at a really grim moment when absurd lawsuits and huge amounts of money come together to damage the public interest," Bergman said. "So, I would say," he continued. "You gotta be a little bit depressed about what the future holds." Fox News Digital has learned that the sum being paid to Trump could reach north of $30 million, with $16 million being paid upfront for his future presidential library, in addition to another eight-figure allocation set aside for advertisements, public service announcements or other similar transmissions, in support of conservative causes by the network in the future. Current Paramount management disputes the additional allocation, and a source familiar with Paramount's current leadership told Fox News Digital only $16 million was sanctioned by the official mediator, and they have no knowledge of any deal Trump made on the side. CBS also agreed to update its editorial standards by mandating the release of full, unedited transcripts of interviews with future presidential candidates. Paramount has defended the settlement. "Companies often settle litigation to avoid the high and somewhat unpredictable costs of legal defense, the risk of an adverse judgment that could result in significant financial or reputational damage, and the disruption to business operations that prolonged legal battles can cause. Settlement offers a negotiated resolution that allows companies to focus on their core objectives rather than being mired in uncertainty and distraction," a Paramount spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Forbes
07-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Paramount Settles Trump Suit For $16M With President's No-Tax Playbook
The Paramount logo is displayed at Columbia Square along Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, California on ... More March 9, 2023. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) The news that Paramount settled with President Trump for $16 million over alleged 60 Minutes edits that Trump alleged favored then Vice President Kamala Harris prompted criticism from some in the media. When Harris was asked about the Biden administration's relationship with Israel's prime minister, CBS producers used different portions of her answer on two programs. One response was on CBS' 'Face the Nation,' with a shorter one on '60 Minutes.' Many in the media criticized Paramount, but like other lawsuits that Trump has settled, there was an interesting tax angle. The money goes to pay Trump's legal fees, and to his Presidential Library. Trump used the same technique in his $15 million settlement with ABC News over alleged defamation by George Stephanopoulos. Meta also settled with Trump, paying $25 million over suspending his social media accounts, and the funds once again were for legal fees and his Presidential Library. The widespread assumption is that this avoids taxes. In general, though, the IRS view is that settling a lawsuit by having the money paid to charity may not always be a 100% tax solution. In some cases, a plaintiff's request to have settlement funds paid to charity are viewed by the IRS as a payment first to the plaintiff, and then a contribution by him to charity. That may be subject to percentage income limits, which in some cases means that the whole charitable contribution deduction may not be available in the year of the settlement. Paying Trump's Legal Fees If the settlement pays legal bills that President Trump would otherwise owe, the IRS could call that taxable income. When someone discharges your liability, the IRS often views that as income, even you never handle the cash. Similarly, if Trump receives a reimbursement out of the Paramount settlement for legal fees that he has already paid, is that income? It depends on whether Trump has deducted the legal fees on his taxes that are later reimbursed. If he has deducted the fees, the IRS usually requires reimbursed amounts to be treated as income. Directing settlement money to charity can work in some cases, but even that is not foolproof, as noted above. And having the settlement agreement direct the money to someone else — say a friend or relative — usually does not avoid taxes to the plaintiff either. The IRS taxes the person who had a legal right to payment. Many plaintiffs win or settle a lawsuit only to be surprised that they have to pay taxes. Some don't realize it until tax time the following year when IRS Forms 1099 arrive in the mail. Taxes on legal settlements are based on the origin of your claim. If you get laid off at work and sue for wages, you'll be taxed as wages, usually with a portion on a Form 1099 for emotional distress. But the rules are full of exceptions and nuances, so be careful, how settlement awards are taxed. One limited exclusion from taxes applies to physical injury damages. Before 1996, all 'personal' damages were tax-free, so emotional distress and defamation produced tax-free recoveries. But since 1996, your injury must be 'physical.' Trump alleged that the the '60 Minutes' edits caused him mental anguish, but that clearly would not qualfy for a tax exclusion. The IRS treats mental anguish, as well as physical symptoms of emotional distress (like headaches and stomachaches) as taxable. There are many chicken or egg tax cases, and many plaintiffs take aggressive positions on their tax returns, trying to explain their IRS Form 1099. Haggling over tax details before you sign and settle is best. Such agreements aren't binding on the IRS or the courts in later tax disputes, but they are usually not ignored by the IRS. Most legal disputes involve multiple issues. You might claim that the defendant kept your laptop, frittered away your trust fund, underpaid you, failed to reimburse you for a business trip, or other items. Even if your dispute relates to one course of conduct, there's a good chance the total settlement involves several types of consideration. How Legal Fees Are Taxed How legal fees are taxed is tricky too. If you are the plaintiff and use a contingent fee lawyer, you'll be treated (for tax purposes) as receiving 100% of the money recovered by you and your attorney, even if the defendant pays your lawyer directly. If your case is fully nontaxable (say an auto accident in which you are injured), that shouldn't cause any tax problems. But if your recovery is taxable, watch out. Say you settle a suit for intentional infliction of emotional distress against your neighbor for $100,000, and your lawyer keeps $40,000. You might think you'd have $60,000 of income. Instead, you'll have $100,000 of income. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Commissioner v. Banks, that plaintiffs generally have income equal to 100% of their recoveries. even if their lawyers take a share. How about deducting the legal fees? In 2004, Congress enacted an above the line deduction for legal fees in employment claims and certain whistleblower claims. But outside these two areas, in some cases it is very difficult to find a deduction for legal fees. Tax advice early before the case settles and the settlement agreement is signed is best. Fortunately, there are often ways to deduct legal fees even under the new law. Punitive Damages & Interest Punitive damages and interest are always taxable. If you are injured in a car crash and collect $50,000 in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, the former is tax-free. But the $5 million is fully taxable, and you can have trouble deducting your attorney fees. The same occurs with interest. You might receive a tax-free settlement or judgment, but pre-judgment or post-judgment interest is always taxable (and can produce attorney fee problems). Sometimes, that can make it attractive to settle your case rather than going to judgment.
New York Times
07-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
A Dark Moment for Journalism — and Devastation in Texas
Hosted by Rachel Abrams Featuring David EnrichEdgar Sandoval and Lowell Bergman Produced by Rob SzypkoCaitlin O'KeefeSydney HarperNina Feldman and Michael Simon Johnson Edited by Lexie Diao and Paige Cowett Original music by Pat McCuskerDiane WongMarion LozanoRowan Niemisto and Dan Powell Engineered by Chris Wood Last week, when Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, announced a $16 million settlement with President Trump over editing of a segment of '60 Minutes,' many of the network's journalists were furious. The deal also raised questions about the independence of CBS's journalism, and how much news organizations could be cowed by threats from the president going forward. David Enrich, an investigations editor at The Times, takes us inside the settlement, and Lowell Bergman, a former CBS producer and investigative journalist at The Times, reminds us that the network has been in a similar situation before and discusses why this time may be different. First, Edgar Sandoval, who is on the ground in Texas, explains what is happening in the wake of the flooding. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Edgar Sandoval, a reporter for The New York Times covering Texas. David Enrich, a deputy investigations editor for The New York Times. Lowell Bergman, a journalist and former producer for CBS's '60 Minutes.' Paramount to pay Donald Trump $16 million to settle '60 Minutes' lawsuit. For '60 Minutes,' a humbling moment at an uneasy time for press freedom. More than 50 have been found dead in Texas floods as the search for missing grows dire. There are a lot of ways to listen to 'The Daily.' Here's how. We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode's publication. You can find them at the top of the page. Research help by Susan Lee. The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Michael Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, Nina Feldman, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Sophia Lanman, Shannon M. Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez, Brendan Klinkenberg, Chris Haxel, Maria Byrne, Anna Foley and Caitlin O'Keefe. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson, Nina Lassam, Nick Pitman and Kathleen O'Brien.
