Liberal comedian Rosie O’Donnell accused CBS of ‘capitulating’ to President Donald Trump, stating during ‘The View’ co-host Ana Navarro’s podcast that the network’s $16 million settlement of his ’60 Minutes’ lawsuit was a ‘bribe’ that undermined an independent press.
Appearing on ‘Bleep! with Ana Navarro,’ O’Donnell referenced former CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, who similarly criticized the agreement on his show last year. ‘CBS capitulated. They did exactly what Stephen Colbert said they did,’ O’Donnell remarked. ‘They gave him a bribe and it’s unforgivable.’
Rosie O’Donnell accused CBS of ‘capitulating’ to President Donald Trump over its $16 million settlement of his ’60 Minutes’ lawsuit. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)
O’Donnell expressed concern that the media is no longer independent enough to scrutinize the government effectively. ‘We need a very vibrant, alive, independent media,’ she stated. ‘And we no longer have it in this country.’
The CBS case involved the network’s editing of an October 2024 ’60 Minutes’ interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump accused CBS of deceptively editing Harris’ response about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to her benefit before the presidential election.
Paramount Global and CBS settled the lawsuit in July 2025 for $16 million, which included legal expenses and a contribution to Trump’s future presidential library or charitable causes. The agreement contained no apology or admission of journalistic wrongdoing, and no money was paid directly to Trump.
Trump’s legal team portrayed the settlement as a victory over the media. ‘CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle,’ a Trump legal spokesperson commented.
O’Donnell called the CBS settlement a ‘bribe’ during an appearance on Ana Navarro’s ‘Bleep!’ podcast. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
During her discussion with Navarro, O’Donnell referred to Trump as a ‘convicted sexual rapist,’ which led Navarro to caution her against such descriptions. O’Donnell then refocused on the CBS settlement.
It should be noted that Trump was not criminally convicted of rape. A civil jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. In a related development, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s future presidential foundation or museum after anchor George Stephanopoulos claimed on-air that Trump had been found liable for rape.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and CBS for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Stephen Colbert criticized the CBS settlement on ‘The Late Show’ last year while Paramount awaited federal approval of its merger with Skydance Media. ‘I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It’s ‘big fat bribe,’’ he quipped.
CBS announced soon after that it would cancel ‘The Late Show’ at the end of the 2025-2026 season, clarifying that this decision was financially based and unrelated to Colbert’s content or other proceedings at Paramount. ‘It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount,’ said a CBS press release in July 2025. Colbert hosted his final episode in May.
The Federal Communications Commission later approved Skydance’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount, with the merger closing in August 2025. Paramount maintained that Trump’s lawsuit was ‘completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process.’
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