Jessica Tunkel
Appearances
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
So Trump files this massive lawsuit. And, you know, frankly, at the time, I'm not sure everyone took it super seriously because they felt like it was grandstanding. But in the claim, what he says is that there was a promotion for the interview on Face the Nation. Face the Nation is another CBS show, and it aired a preview of the interview.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
And then when you actually saw the interview, it was much more, it was a cleaner answer. It was a more succinct answer.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
When you actually saw the interview on 60 Minutes, it was a much more succinct answer. And so Trump is saying, this was deceitful. You did this to favor her campaign over mine. How did CBS respond? So CBS was pretty vehement. They said, you know, it's the same question, same answer, different portions of the response, and this is a frivolous lawsuit.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
I think the best practice is to make sure that whatever the promotion is, is in line with what the answer was on the interview. I want to clarify that 60 minutes is unusual in that it is like an hour's worth of footage that they like cut down to 21 minutes. So there is an expectation there's going to be a lot of editing of that interview.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
But sources have told me that since this happened, they are going to be more rigid about making sure that it's exactly the same language that's used in promotions. And I would say that this is a tricky area in media, editing politicians. Yes, this is a complete minefield.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
It's damned if you do, damned if you don't, you know, because they do so much editing to get a longer interview down to just around 20 minutes. It's tricky.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
So since then, it felt like CBS was not publicly as vehement in its outrage over the lawsuit. And they've been going back and forth in court. Trump recently, a few weeks ago, amended his complaint to increase the amount to $20 billion.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
So it kind of depends who you talk to. I will say that First Amendment attorneys say this is completely frivolous and ridiculous and that has no standing. I mean, you know, when I talk to sources close to Paramount, I think the concern is even if they were to win this ultimately, it could mean years in court battling the president of the United States. Could be hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
I think if they choose to settle, the concern is that all news outlets are sort of at the whims of the president of the United States. And if he feels like what is being said is unfair or not accurate, regardless of whether it is or not, they could risk litigation. So it does feel like we are entering this era of media versus the president.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
In the case of CBS, they have to get this merger done.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
The controlling shareholder, Sherry Redstone, did not want to sell. She had a lot of belief that the company could turn around until finally in comes David Ellison, who runs his own production company, which is much smaller than Paramount, by the way. But his father is Larry Ellison, who's a billionaire. He has this vision of taking tech and
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
you know, making Paramount a new media company, and he has billions of dollars to back it up.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
And there were ups and there were downs. You know, the deal was canceled, then it was back on, then it was off, then it was on, and then you had other suitors coming in and saying they wanted to buy Paramount. I mean, it was very dramatic. You really didn't know until the very end if this deal was actually going to be announced.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
All my sources were telling me this is just going to fly through. Like the election will happen and it will fly through because people at that point were thinking Trump was going to win and that the deal would happen.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
So that is not what has happened. And what's holding up the deal primarily is this concern around bias at CBS News. So the FCC has first said, we want to see the transcript of the interview with Kamala Harris. We want to see the raw footage and we want to review all of that. The FCC also reopened a third-party complaint against CBS News about bias, which the Biden administration had tossed out.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
So the FCC has made it very clear that this is a focus for them. They are reviewing bias at CBS News as part of their review. And that is totally separate from the Trump lawsuit. On paper, that is totally separate. There are separate filings, a separate docket for the FCC review than from Donald Trump's personal lawsuit.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
Theoretically, it should not have any impact. If there is a settlement, it should not impact the FCC review.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
I do not recall a time when you've seen the FCC look at this issue of bias. The FCC usually looks at the stations and like whether two companies, if you put them together, they own too many stations and that will be an issue. I don't recall a time where I've seen bias be this much of an issue with the FCC in a merger.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
How are they thinking about all of this? we had heard that there were discussions internally at Paramount to settle the lawsuit. And that has caused a lot of controversy within Paramount, within CBS News, specifically within 60 Minutes, because you have journalists and executives at the company who do not want to settle, who think it's a terrible precedent.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
And you have a controlling shareholder, Sherry Redstone, who is starting to see that the only option to not be in litigation for the next several years is by settling this lawsuit.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
Well, that's the concern. The concern is if the settlement is viewed as a quid pro quo for getting the merger approved, that these executives could then be sued for bribing a public official. I reported...
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
A few weeks ago, that one major concern among executives at Paramount is if Paramount settles this lawsuit, and then a few weeks later or whenever, the FCC and the other regulators approve this deal with Skydance, some state attorney general could file criminal charges for bribing a public official. I've heard people talk about jail time.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
Skydance has not said anything publicly. Skydance does not own Paramount, so they really technically can't get involved in any of this.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
So sources have told me that Skydance wants Paramount to get rid of this before they buy the company. They don't want to deal with this.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
Everything is so intertwined. You know, I think it's all three of those things. It is a media story, obviously, because of the precedent it could set and because of the controversy within news organizations around the globe. People have very strong feelings about whether Paramount should settle or not.
The Journal.
Will Paramount Settle With Trump?
I think it's a business story because you have Paramount, which is in the middle of this merger with Fox. Skydance Media and that merger in and of itself has been through many, many iterations and challenges. And then you have it as a politics story because of the Trump of it all, of course.