Senator Elizabeth Warren is calling for a federal investigation into Paramount Global’s $16 million settlement with President Trump, labeling the deal “bribery in plain sight.” The probe will examine whether the company’s payment was tied to its needed FCC approval for a pending merger with Skydance Media.
Warren pointed out that the payment coincided with Paramount’s pursuit of regulatory clearance under the Trump administration, raising suspicions of corporate favoritism. She accused the studio of valuing profit over journalistic freedom and reaffirmed earlier demands for transparency, alongside senators Bernie Sanders and Ron Wyden.
Warren said on MSNBC that Paramount’s willingness to settle sounds like an effort to curry favor with Trump. “With Paramount folding to Donald Trump at the same time the company needs his administration’s approval for its billion-dollar merger, this could be bribery in plain sight… Paramount has refused to provide answers to a congressional inquiry, so I’m calling for a full investigation into whether or not any anti-bribery laws were broken,” Warren stated on air.
The settlement stemmed from Trump’s 2024 lawsuit against CBS/Paramount, alleging deceptive editing in a “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Harris. Paramount initially defended the segment as standard editing practice before ultimately agreeing to pay $16 million, funneled to Trump’s presidential library, with no apology issued.
Trump later claimed that an additional $20 million in advertising or programming value would be provided by Skydance, bringing the total to $36 million. Paramount and Skydance deny these claims. Senators Warren, Sanders, and Wyden have pressed Skydance to clarify by August 4 whether any undisclosed deals were part of the merger strategy.
The fallout has intensified. High-profile CBS news executives, including “60 Minutes” EP Bill Owens and CBS News president Wendy McMahon, resigned amid internal turmoil. Industry watchdogs and journalism associations warn this could undermine First Amendment values and hint at political pressure influencing editorial decisions.
Writers Guild and media organizations have urged New York’s attorney general to investigate Paramount’s motivations, particularly after CBS abruptly canceled Stephen Colbert’s late-night show days after his public criticism of the settlement.
Paramount maintains that the settlement was a strategic and separate legal resolution, unrelated to the FCC merger review. The company emphasized that the payment was directed to Trump’s library, with no admission of guilt or requirement for future content commitments
