UPDATED: The CBS–Paramount Global legal team and representatives for Donald Trump said that they were in “continued mediation” to settle the president’s $20 billion lawsuit against the network over the way that a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris was edited.
The update came in a new filing in federal court in Texas in Friday, as the sides asked the judge for an extension of deadlines in filing motions to compel and responses. The judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, quickly granted the extensions.
Trump claimed that CBS was deceptive in the way that the Harris interview was edited, as she was shown giving a different answer to the same question on the 60 Minutes broadcast in October than one shown on a Face the Nation preview the day before.
CBS has maintained that there was no deception and, in standard industry practice, one part of her answer was shown on Face the Nation and the other on 60 Minutes, due to time constraints.
Trump sued the network under Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Lanham Act, typically used in cases of false advertising. The president claims that the interview cost his media entities, including Truth Social, an audience that was diverted to 60 Minutes.
A number of legal experts see the lawsuit as meritless, but CBS parent Paramount Global is seeking administration approval for its merger with Skydance Media.
Paramount-CBS has offered millions to settle the case, in what has been described to Deadline as an “eight-figure discussion.” The Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount offered $15 million, but Trump’s team is seeking $25 million and apology. There also has been speculation that a settlement could go even higher.
The settlement talks have created consternation within the news division. Last week, in an interview with CNN, 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley said that a settlement and apology would be “very damaging” to the reputation of CBS and Paramount.
The legal teams told the judge that they are not asking him to extend a June 23 deadline for CBS to file a response to Trump’s opposition to their motion to dismiss the case.
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