The executive producer of “60 Minutes” remains defiant and CBS News’ parent company mulls settling a lawsuit waged by President Donald Trump.
Bill Owens, who has led the long-running program since 2019, took a tough stance against Trump during a Monday staff meeting, according to The New York Times.
“There have been reports in the media about a settlement and/or apology,” Owens reportedly said. “The company knows I will not apologize for anything we have done.”
‘60 MINUTES’ TRANSCRIPT AT CENTER OF TRUMP’S LAWSUIT AGAINST CBS IS VITAL TO INVESTIGATION, FCC CHAIR SAYS
CBS News is approaching a deadline set by Trump’s Federal Communication Commission chairman Brendan Carr to hand over the transcript of the Kamala Harris “60 Minutes” interview at the center of the controversy.
“The edit is perfectly fine; let’s put that to bed so we can get on with our lives,” Owens said regarding the transcript, per the Times.
CBS News did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
TRUMP COULD BE ON THE VERGE OF LEGAL VICTORY AGAINST CBS AS SETTLEMENT SPECULATION HEATS UP
In October, Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS News alleging election interference over its handling of the “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing the network of aiding his Democratic rival through deceptive editing just days before the election.
The lawsuit stems from an exchange Harris had with “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker. In a preview clip that aired on “Face the Nation,” Harris was asked why it seemed like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t listening to the U.S.
“Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of, many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region,” Harris responded in the “Face the Nation” clip.
Harris was mocked by conservatives for offering a lengthy “word salad” to Whitaker. But when that same question aired the following night in the primetime election special, a shorter, more focused answer from the vice president followed.
“We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end,” Harris said in the primetime special.
Critics accused CBS News of editing Harris’ “word salad” answer to shield the vice president from further backlash, and there were calls for the network to release the full transcript after it only shared transcripts of what had aired.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS URGES CBS NEWS TO ‘STAND TALL’ AS NETWORK REPORTEDLY CONSIDERS SETTLING TRUMP LAWSUIT
“To paper over Kamala’s ‘word salad’ weakness, CBS used its national platform on 60 Minutes to cross the line from the exercise of judgment in reporting to deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news,” the lawsuit stated.
Trump attorneys argued the edits were done in an effort to “attempt to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential Election — which President Trump is leading — approaches its conclusion.”
“CBS’ partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public,” the lawsuit read.
CBS parent company Paramount Global is reportedly considering settling the suit ahead of a planned merger with Skydance Media in hopes of preventing potential retribution by Trump’s FCC, which has the authority to halt the multibillion-dollar transaction. Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, is reportedly in favor of settling with the president.
Rumors of a settlement comes just weeks after ABC News settled its defamation lawsuit filed by Trump, resulting in giving him $15 million and a written apology, followed by a $25 million settlement by Meta.
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
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