Paramount will pay $16 million (€13.57mn) to settle a defamation case against US President Donald Trump, the company said in a statement late on Tuesday.
Minus the legal fees, the money will be paid to Mr. Trump’s future presidential library.
Trump sued for $20 billion (€16.98bn) in damages, claiming that Paramount’s CBS News in November edited a “60 Minutes” news programme with then-vice president Kamala Harris in a way that was deliberately deceptive.
The settlement from Paramount does not include an apology although the show will now release transcripts of future interviews with US presidential candidates after they air.
Harris had responded to a question about the US relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A preview of the interview included one answer, while the full episode featured a different, edited response.
The US’ First Amendment gives publishers wide freedoms to determine how to present information. Despite this, Trump argued in a court filing that the editing of Harris’ response was “doctored to confuse, deceive, and mislead the American People in order to try and interfere in the election”.
Discussions around a settlement prompted the resignation of the “60 Minutes” executive producer, Bill Owens, earlier this year. The CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures, Wendy McMahon, also stepped down.
“[It has] become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it," said Owens in a note to staff.
The settlement comes ahead of Paramount’s annual shareholders’ meeting on Wednesday.
The firm is at a crucial moment as it seeks to merge with Skydance Media before a 7 July deadline, a sale that requires federal approval. The companies can benefit from an automatic 90-day extension if needed.
Paramount said in a statement that the settlement with Trump was “completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process”.
The settlement of the “60 Minutes” lawsuit marks the second time that Trump has won compensation from a major news organisation since his election.
In December, Disney-owned ABC News paid $15mn (€12.74mn) to settle a defamation case filed by Trump against the network and one of its anchors, George Stephanopoulos.
Trump alleged that Stephanopoulos defamed him when he said during an interview that Trump had been found “liable for rape”.
A jury found Donald Trump liable in a civil case for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and for defaming her by claiming she was lying to promote her book.
