New York—Paramount announced late last night that it has agreed to pay $16 million dollars to settle a lawsuit that President Trump filed over the editing of an interview with then-Vice President and candidate Kamala Harris on “60 Minutes.” The payment will go towards President Trump’s future presidential library. As part of the settlement, Paramount said it would release written  transcripts of future “60 Minutes” interviews with presidential candidates.

The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

“Today is a sad day for press freedom. This was a frivolous lawsuit and the payment being described as a ‘settlement’ bears no relation to Paramount’s actual legal exposure in the case, which was negligible. Paramount should have fought this extortionate lawsuit in court, and it would have prevailed. Now Trump’s presidential library will be a permanent monument to Paramount’s surrender, a continual reminder of its failure to defend freedoms that are essential to our democracy.” 

Earlier this year, Jaffer wrote about this case and other lawsuits brought by President Trump targeting media organizations for The New York Times, “This Is Not a Moment to Settle With Trump.”

For more information, contact: Adriana Lamirande, [email protected].