You won’t believe the brutal truth Stephen Colbert just dropped about his own employer’s choice to pay off the Trump lawsuit, sacrificing reputation for a dark deal.NH
Stephen Colbert took a swipe at his own network in a feature story in GQ on Monday, with the Late Show host accusing Paramount of tarnishing CBS when it agreed to pay President Donald Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit earlier this year.
The only reason to do it, Colbert said, was to win brownie points from the president.
“It is self-evident that that is damaging to the reputation of the network, the corporation, and the news division,” Colbert said. “So it is unclear to me why anyone would do that other than to curry favor with a single individual.”
He also said Paramount’s own attorneys said the settlement was “completely without merit.”
Colbert’s comments echoed what he said in July, days after the settlement was reached, when he called it a “big fat bribe” on the air. The settlement was reached as Skydance was waiting for FCC approval on its acquisition of Paramount, the parent company of CBS.
Trump had sued Paramount over how 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris heading into the 2024 election. The president’s attorneys argued it was selectively edited, which constituted “election interference,” and also caused Trump “mental anguish.”
He bragged, during an interview on 60 Minutes on Sunday night, that Paramount “paid me a lotta money” to settle. CBS, as correspondent Norah O’Donnell noted during the broadcast, did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
Trump complimented both David Ellison, the Skydance boss who now runs Paramount, and Bari Weiss, the new editor-in-chief of CBS News, during that same interview.
“I see good things happening in the news. I really do,” Trump said. “And I think one of the best things to happen is this show and new ownership, CBS and new ownership. I think it’s the greatest thing that’s happened in a long time to a free and open and good press.”
Colbert, in his interview, joked Ellison may have the answers to television’s fading relevancy.
“Television’s in huge trouble. Maybe David Ellison will fix everything. No, no. Seriously. Maybe he will. Maybe he’ll fix everything. But it’s clear that television is in a lot of transitions,” Colbert said. “It’s been going on for a long time. But that’s not my end of the business. My end of the business is the jokes.”
Beyond hating on the Trump settlement, Colbert also had nice things to say about his time at CBS. He said his show was “unf*cked” for nine years and enjoyed lots of support from CBS.
You can read the full interview — and check out pictures of Colbert smoking a joint in a pool — by clicking here.
