"I can understand why people would have that reaction because CBS or the parent corporation - I'm not going to say who made that decision, because I don't know; no one's ever going to tell us - decided to cut a check for $16 million to the president of the United States over a lawsuit that their own lawyers, Paramount's own lawyers, said is completely without merit."
"It is self-evident that that is damaging to the reputation of the network, the corporation, and the news division,"
"So it is unclear to me why anyone would do that other than to curry favor with a single individual. If people have theories that associate me with that, it's a reasonable thing to think, because CBS or the corporation clearly did it once."
"My side of the street is clean and I have no interest in picking up a broom or adding to refuse on the other side of the street. Not my problem."
Paramount canceled The Late Show after paying Donald Trump $16 million to resolve his 60 Minutes lawsuit despite corporate lawyers deeming the suit meritless. The settlement raised concerns about the company's reputation and prompted speculation that the payment aimed to curry favor with the president. Stephen Colbert rejected association with the settlement and emphasized his independence, saying his side is clean and he will not add to corporate refuse. CBS and Paramount continue to face fallout, including a 60 Minutes interview in which Trump noted he received "a lotta money" and praised Paramount CEO David Ellison and Bari Weiss, who became head of CBS News on October 6.
Read at Vulture
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