Nine hours after Paramount Global announced a $16 million payment to President Donald Trump to settle his “60 Minutes” lawsuit, Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks — who is the head of CBS — spoke about the deal at the media company’s 2025 annual shareholder meeting.
“Companies often settle litigation to avoid the high and somewhat unpredictable cost of legal defense,” as well as to avoid “reputational damage,” Cheeks said, in a response to an investor question about why Paramount had settled the lawsuit.
“Settlement offers a negotiated resolution to allow companies to focus on their core objectives,” Cheeks said.
Paramount’s three co-CEOs — Cheeks, along with Chris McCarthy, president and CEO, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, and Paramount Pictures head Brian Robbins — provided remarks at the start of the call, which started at 9 a.m. Eastern and concluded less than a half hour later.
“2025 is set to be our best year yet,” McCarthy told investors in his scripted comments. Paramount Global chair Shari Redstone, the company’s controlling shareholder, did not speak at the meeting.
Late Tuesday, Paramount announced that it agreed to pay $16 million to Trump to settle his “60 Minutes” lawsuit, which Paramount and CBS had previously attempted to dismiss and characterized as baseless. Trump alleged that “60 Minutes” had misleadingly edited clips from an interview with Kamala Harris, asserting that it violated a Texas consumer protection law by distorting voters’ impressions of Harris’ competence. Under the settlement, Paramount and CBS will not issue a “statement of apology or regret,” as Trump’s lawyers had been pushing for.
The settlement is seen as paving the way for Paramount to finally close its deal that will see it merge with Skydance Media, led by CEO David Ellison. The pact still requires approval by the FCC, headed by chairman Brendan Carr, who is an ally of Trump.
“As the FCC continues its review of the Skydance transactions, we remain focused on delivering high-performing hits, supporting our creative culture, and driving value for shareholders,” Redstone and Paramount’s three co-CEOs wrote in a letter to shareholders shared at the meeting. The letter didn’t mention “60 Minutes,” CBS News or the Trump lawsuit.
The agenda for the shareholder meeting included the election of Paramount board members, who — because Redstone holds majority voting power at Paramount — are guaranteed to secure seats on the board. The slate included three new directors: Mary Boies, counsel to Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, who specializes in antitrust and corporate commercial litigation; Charles E. Ryan, founder and general partner of Almaz Capital; and Roanne Sragow Licht, a former judge and adjunct professor at Boston University and Roger Williams University.
The current board members standing for reelection are Redstone, non-executive chair of Paramount Global; Barbara M. Byrne, former vice chairman of investment banking at Barclays; Linda M. Griego, CEO of Griego Enterprises, a business management company; and Susan Schuman, CEO of Kyu Consulting Group.
In the letter to shareholders, Paramount touted “significant improvement in [streaming] profitability” driven by topline growth. Paramount+ revenue grew 33% in 2024 and added 10 million new subscribers to reach 77.5 million at year-end, and direct-to-consumer streaming profitability improved by nearly $1.2 billion. The company reiterated that it expects Paramount+ to be profitable in the U.S. this year.
variety.com
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