Shari Redstone Asked CBS to ‘Delay Sensitive Stories About Trump’ Until Paramount Sale Closed: Report
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Paramount, the parent company of CBS and its news division, is eager to close the sale of her company to SkyDance. So eager, in fact, that she reportedly asked CBS News to delay any sensitive stories about President Donald Trump until the deal is finalized.
This interference with the CBS newsroom was reported by Puck’s Dylan Byers on Wednesday evening, and supports the reasoning behind why 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens stepped down over concerns about a lack of independence at the famed newsmagazine.
Trump is suing CBS News for “election interference” over a 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris conducted by Bill Whitaker. An answer by Harris was edited and used in a tease of the segment on Face the Nation and on 60 Minutes itself. The editing of a subject’s answers for time is standard procedure in the TV news industry, and legal experts have dismissed Trump’s suit as totally baseless.
Redstone, according to reports, has been eager to settle the lawsuit in order to get approval for her sale to SkyDance. That even prompted the stunning intervention reported by Byers, who wrote that she made the request to CBS News CEO George Cheeks:
Shari’s attempts to influence 60 Minutes coverage went beyond that. According to those sources with direct knowledge of the matter, Shari also asked Cheeks if it would be possible to delay sensitive stories about Trump or his policies until after she had closed the Skydance deal. Representatives for Shari and Cheeks declined to comment on the nature of those discussions, and representatives for Paramount and CBS News declined to comment for this story. The current deadline for the Paramount-Skydance deal is July 6.
Byers went on to note that “there is no evidence that Shari’s increased oversight of 60 Minutes has forced the show to alter its programming, nor that Cheeks ever sought to execute her request,” which is consistent with what CBS News anchor Scott Pelley said in a stunning rebuke of unnamed Paramount executives when he told 60 Minutes viewers about Owen’s departure from the show.
Redstone is expected to receive around $530 million from the Paramount-Skydance Media merger. This includes a $180 million severance package and a substantial amount from the sale of her stake in National Amusements. Additionally, she was paid $523,000 in 2024 as director compensation, according to TheWrap.
President Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News has been widely mocked by legal experts for its absurdity, but it is consistent with his multi-faceted war on the press. ABC News parent company Disney settled a $15 million lawsuit with Trump last year, and the Associated Press has recently benefited from a court order to regain access to White House events that they were barred from due to their unwillingness to follow Trump’s “Gulf of America” dictate.
