Stephen Colbert took a sharp jab at his employer, Paramount, after the company agreed to settle with President Donald Trump in his election interference lawsuit against CBS. The deal, which could reach $30 million, has been widely criticized as a financial compromise to secure Trump’s approval for the sale of the network to Skydance. Colbert sarcastically referred to the arrangement as a ‘big fat bribe,’ alleging that Paramount’s owners were trying to buy the Trump administration’s support for the proposed acquisition. The comedian used humor to highlight what he saw as a dangerous precedent in the media landscape, where networks might be compelled to silence critical reporting in exchange for regulatory approval.
The lawsuit, which was brought by Trump against CBS News, alleged that the network engaged in election interference by editing an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. The controversy began when the network published a clip of Harris responding to a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance on the Biden administration. The original clip, which aired during a preview of aCBS’