Scott Pelley says Trump lawsuit settlement would be ‘very damaging’ to CBS

“60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley spoke out about President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against CBS and its parent company on Saturday, arguing that a settlement would be “very damaging.” 

“Well, it’d be very damaging to CBS, to Paramount, to the reputation of those companies,” Pelley said during a conversation with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Saturday, who asked how harmful a settlement and potential apology would be to the network. 

Trump filed a lawsuit against Paramount Global, CBS News’ parent company, over a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris in October 2024. Fox News Digital confirmed that Trump rejected a $15 million offer to settle his lawsuit, according to a source familiar with the matter, as the president’s legal team is also demanding at least $25 million and an apology from CBS News.

Cooper, who is also a correspondent on “60 Minutes,” also asked Pelley about former show producer Bill Owens resigning from the program in April.

Scott Pelley attends the CBS Fall Schedule Celebration at Paramount Studios on May 02, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. ( (Photo by Frazer Harrison/WireImage))

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“Bill‘s decision to resign may not have been much of a decision for him because he was always the first person to defend the independence of ‘60 minutes.’ Bill didn‘t work for Paramount. Bill worked for our viewers, and he felt very keenly about that. And so I‘m not sure Bill had any choice, once the corporation began to meddle in Bill‘s decisions about the editorial content, or just place pressure in that area, Bill felt that he didn‘t have the independence that honest journalism requires,” Pelley said. 

Pelley also said he wished he had the public backing of CBS News, but added that his work was still making it onto the program. 

“You really wish the company was behind you 100%, right? You really wish the top echelons of the company would come out publicly and say ’60 Minutes’, for example, is a crown jewel of American journalism, and we stand behind it 100%. I haven‘t heard that. On the other hand, my work is getting on the air, and I have not had anyone outside ‘60 Minutes’ put their thumb on the scale and say, ‘you can‘t say that. You should say this. You have to edit the story in this way. You should interview this person.’ None of that has happened. So while I would like to have that public backing, maybe the more important thing is the work is still getting on the air,” Pelley said. 

The “60 Minutes” correspondent recently went viral for calling out Trump during a commencement address. 

“60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley spoke to CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Saturday. (David M. Russell/CBS via Getty Images)

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“In this moment, this moment, this morning, our sacred rule of law is under attack. Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack,” Pelley said during his commencement speech at Wake Forest University. “And insidious fear is reaching through our schools, our businesses, our homes and into our private thoughts, the fear to speak in America. If our government is, in Lincoln’s phrase, ‘Of the people, by the people, for the people,’ then why are we afraid to speak?”

Pelley addressed the remarks during the CNN interview and told Cooper that he felt “strongly” it needed to be said. 

President Donald Trump speaks during an event on energy production in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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“I don‘t refer to him or the president or the White House or the administration. But I was talking about actions that have been taken by the government over these last many months. But, there was a little bit of hysteria among some about this speech, and I simply ask you, what does it say about our country when there’s hysteria about a speech that’s about freedom of speech?” the CBS correspondent added. 

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Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.