Stephen Colbert returned from his summer time hiatus on Monday (July 14) and wasted no time calling out CBS’ father or mother firm, Paramount, for its $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump.
“Whereas I used to be on trip, my father or mother company Paramount paid Donald Trump a $16 million settlement over his 60 Minutes lawsuit,” the late-night host mentioned on Monday’s The Late Present. “As somebody who has all the time been a proud worker of this community, I’m offended. I don’t know if something will ever restore my belief on this firm. However simply taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would assist.”
Trump and Paramount settled earlier this month over a lawsuit surrounding 60 Minutes. The President argued the present had edited an interview with Kamala Harris to make her seem extra favorable within the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. As Colbert defined, many authorized consultants, together with Paramount’s personal authorized workforce, mentioned the lawsuit was “fully with out advantage.”
“And take into accout, Paramount produced Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. They know ‘fully with out advantage,’” he quipped.
Colbert continued, “Now, in contrast to the payoffs from ABC and Twitter, Paramount’s settlement didn’t embrace an apology. That’s good. As a substitute, the company launched an announcement the place they mentioned, ‘Chances are you’ll take our cash, however you’ll by no means take our dignity. Chances are you’ll, nonetheless, buy our dignity for the low, low worth of $16 million. We’d like the money.’”
The settlement comes as Paramount is hoping to promote to a brand new proprietor, Skydance, a deal which requires FCC approval. Colbert mentioned, “I imagine this sort of sophisticated monetary settlement with a sitting authorities official has a technical identify in authorized circles: It’s huge fats bribe.”
“As a result of this all comes as Paramount’s homeowners are attempting to get the Trump administration to approve the sale of our community to a brand new proprietor, Skydance,” he added. “And a number of the TV typers on the market are running a blog that when Skydance will get CBS, the brand new proprietor’s want to please Trump might ‘put strain on late night time host and frequent Trump critic Stephen Colbert.’”
“Okay, however how are they going to place strain on Stephen Colbert if they will’t discover him?” the comic mentioned as he moved nearer to the digital camera and pointed at his new mustache.
You’ll be able to watch Colbert’s full opening monologue within the video above and tell us your ideas within the feedback under.
The Late Present With Stephen Colbert, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35c, CBS