After Skydance Doesn’t Deny ‘Side Deal’ With Trump as Part of CBS Settlement, Sen. Warren Repeats Call for Investigation Into Potential ‘Criminal Behavior’

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/warren-paramount-skydance-trump-side-deal-investigation-1236476697/

29 comments

  1. Nothing matters. The executive can do whatever they want now. I guess President AOC can shut down Fox.

  2. What the hell is going on with all of this fraud and criminal corruption crap and Republicans not doing a goddamn thing about it???? It’s so frustrating how everybody is just pending over backwards to give Trump money anyway they can. I don’t get it.

  3. I mean, he is a criminal, so all of his behavior is criminal behavior. Not that that seems to matter anymore

  4. Better pursue state charges wherever you can then, because the DOJ belongs solely to the executive now and will enforce whatever he deems to be justice.

  5. >Sen. [Elizabeth Warren](https://variety.com/t/elizabeth-warren/) isn’t convinced that [Paramount Global](https://variety.com/t/paramount-global/) and [Skydance Media](https://variety.com/t/skydance-media/) did not engage in “corrupt side deals or political favors” with the Trump administration to get their merger approved.

    >Warren, the senior U.S. senator from Massachusetts, had sent letters to Skydance CEO David Ellison (on July 21) and Paramount Global’s three co-CEOs (on May 19), co-signed by Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon). The senators asked questions about Paramount and CBS’s $16 million settlement with President Trump over his “60 Minutes” lawsuit and the Skydance-Paramount merger deal — with the senators suggesting [the settlement amounted to a bribe](https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/warren-investigation-paramount-trump-settlement-bribery-1236446129/).

    >****************

    >“These dodgy responses raise even more questions about whether Paramount and Skydance engaged in corrupt side deals or political favors to get their merger approved — and reveal why we need a full, independent investigation into whether there was any criminal behavior,” Warren said in a statement Friday.

    >****************

    >In response, Warren said, “Skydance admits it knew in advance that Paramount canceled the ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert,’ just days after Colbert called out Paramount for its ‘big fat bribe.’ These giant corporations must think Americans are fools if they think these half-answers resolve serious questions about whether they bribed their way to a merger approval.”

    The settlement was most definitely a bribe.

    There was a zero percent chance that Trump was going to win his lawsuit against CBS. It was so frivolous the attorneys could have been reported to the bar and sanctioned. It wouldn’t have even made it to trial.

    Elizabeth Warren nailed it. These corporations do think Americans are fools because millions of Americans are actually fools. Trump managed to fool more than 70 million Americans, for a third time.

  6. No one cares. Congress is the most corrupt with insider trading

  7. Imagine thinking anyone will do anything about this criminal.

  8. “We investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing”

  9. Carter sold his farm, we’ve come a long way.

  10. Americans need to stop giving their power away…take it back…
    Start a GoFundMe account and hire a forensic accounting firm…
    They can investigate and refer to attorneys for filing in courts…
    That should throw a wrench in the gears of Trump, Inc in DC…
    Trump and crew will be tossed in prison for crimes…the end…

  11. She is one of the very few Dems still having some balls.

  12. Broad immunity for actions taken as POTUS. Worst fkng call this SCOTUS has made and they are racking some doozies.

  13. The orange makeup is on the 12 year olds dress!

  15. Criminals like Trump exhibit criminal behavior because.. they are criminals. The kind that rapes children with his pal, Epstein.

  16. Skydance is buying a damaged brand. The new owner’s another nepo baby like the old owner and he’s literally burning his daddy’s money. Paramount+ lost 1.3 million subscribers last quarter before the settlement and cancellation.

    Hope this is nothing but a money pit for him and his family.

  17. The rules no longer apply. He’s a criminal and acts accordingly. Stop playing like we’re in the same game.

  18. I fucking hate this government and fucking hate what this is going to do to the future of this country

  19. What constitutes criminal behavior anymore? We have two different systems now. One for you and me where we can be snatched off the streets by goons in masks, and one for Trump’s Crime Syndicate where anything goes and nobody is willing to stop him. In a mere six months he has irreparably destroyed America.

  21. A criminally intent quid pro quo court investigation is a distraction from the Epstein-Trump scandal Trump considers worth the doing. 

  22. The rule of law has ended. The military is being deployed against peaceful protesters. The Supreme Court is controlled. Soon the House will be a fully undemocratic body. AI is going to enable mass surveillance on the entirety of the populous. A billionaire is enriching nuclear materials. The opposition is feckless. The secret police are being formed in earnest. Pedophiles are being protected. The avenues for escape are closing one by one.

  23. Congress has abdicated all responsibility and has given it to him. It’s like a nightmare and it’s only been 6 months.

  24. POTENTIAL criminal behavior?! Elizabeth, you’re gonna need a bigger boat!

  25. Who is left to investigate? At this point its just lip service meant to mislead Americans who are living in the past.

  26. all these calls for investigations. lol. laughable. keep calling.

  27. Now, the owners of Star Trek are the ones pushing for a dystopian future instead of the opposite, despite most of the idiot fanboys complaining about how “woke” the franchise is.

    Capitalism strikes again.

  29. They can’t even end daylight savings time or save PBS. Useless.

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