Ex-CBS anchor Dan Rather laments Paramount settlement with Trump as ‘sad day for journalism’

Disgraced ex-CBS News anchor Dan Rather condemned the $16 million settlement between his former outlet’s parent company and President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

In an interview with Variety, the former anchor said that Paramount paying Trump $16 million was the media company groveling to the president.

“It’s a sad day for journalism. It’s a sad day for ’60 Minutes’ and CBS News. I hope people will read the details of this and understand what it was. It was distortion by the President and a kneeling down and saying, ‘yes, sir,’ by billionaire corporate owners,” he told the outlet.

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Paramount Global and CBS agreed on Tuesday to pay Trump a $16 million settlement following the president’s election interference lawsuit against the network. This will cover legal fees, costs of the case, and contributions to his future presidential library or charitable causes, to be determined at Trump’s discretion.

The media companies may have to pay another eight figures to Trump to cover advertisements, public service announcements, or other similar transmissions, in support of conservative causes by the network in the future, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Additionally, sources told Fox News Digital that CBS has agreed to update its editorial standards to install a mandatory new rule that the network will promptly release full, unedited transcripts of future presidential candidates’ interviews. 

Trump filed the lawsuit against the network — which was originally for $20 billion — based on his allegation that “60 Minutes” deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that aired prior to the 2024 election.

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Rather, who stepped down from his role as CBS Evening News anchor in 2005 and left the network the following year after reporting a discredited story about then-President George W. Bush, argued that there was no reason for Paramount and CBS to settle with Trump.

“What really gets me about this is that Paramount didn’t have to settle,” he told Variety. “You settle a lawsuit when you’ve done something wrong. ’60 Minutes’ did nothing wrong. It followed accepted journalistic practices. Lawyers almost unanimously said the case wouldn’t stand up in court.”

The former anchor added that his support for CBS News and “60 Minutes” is “total, absolute,” and noted that he believes much of the staff did their best to fight back against the suit.

“I do really think they fought a good fight on this, and they’ll continue to fight. The people on ’60 Minutes’ and at CBS News didn’t just take it lying down. They did their best to stop it.”

He mentioned he wasn’t surprised that Paramount and CBS executives settled, though.

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“Big billionaire business people make decisions about money. We could always hope that they will make an exception when it comes to freedom of the press, but it wasn’t to be,” he said, adding, “Trump knew if he put the pressure on and threatened and just held that they would fold, because there’s too much money on the table.”

Rather then characterized the settlement as a “sell-out to extortion by the president.” 

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board also criticized Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News and other outlets, referring to it as “lawfare” in a column Wednesday.

Additionally, the editorial stated, “President Trump has taunted the media for years, and some of his jibes are deserved given the groupthink in most newsrooms. What’s happening now, though, is different: The President is using government to intimidate news outlets that publish stories he doesn’t like. It’s a low move in a free country with a free press.”

Reps for Paramount did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.