Skydance has responded to a series of queries from a group of Senate Democrats, declaring that it complied with anti-bribery laws as it worked to close its acquisition of Paramount Global.
“Throughout its history and during the review of the proposed acquisition of Paramount, Skydance has fully complied with all applicable laws, including our nation’s anti-bribery laws,” Skydance General Counsel Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon wrote in a letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Earlier this month, the three senators sent a letter to Skydance CEO David Ellison, pointing out that it is “illegal to corruptly give anything of value to federal officials to influence an official act.” Specifically, the senators pointed to President Donald Trump’s claim that Paramount Global’s $16 million settlement of his lawsuit against CBS also came with an additional $16 million in public service advertising commitments. The president later said that they “anticipate” a higher figure, $20 million, from the new owners.
In the letter, which was viewed by Deadline, McKinnon did not address what the senators called a “side deal.”
But she wrote that Skydance “was neither a party to the lawsuit nor to Paramount’s settlement of its litigation with the president.” McKinnon noted that under the terms of the merger agreement, “Paramount had full discretion to settle any outstanding litigation unrelated to the transaction for up to $50 million without Skydance’s consent.” She did write that Paramount requested Skydance’s consent to one of the settlement terms, that CBS News would make public transcripts of interviews with presidential candidates.
“Skydance did not believe its consent was required, but acceded to Paramount’s request and provided it,” she wrote.
In October, Trump sued CBS News over the way that 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris. Even though its attorneys had referred to the lawsuit as meritless, as did a number of legal observers, they reached a settlement with the president earlier this month. That came just weeks before the FCC, led by Trump’s appointee Brendan Carr, signed off on the deal.
Skydance also addressed the senators’ queries about CBS’s decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. McKinnon wrote that the company was “not involved” in the decision. She wrote that Paramount did provide notice, “but only after Paramount reached its own independent decision, and shortly before Paramount publicly acknowledged the cancellation.”
Last week, Paramount Global responded to a letter from Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) about Colbert’s cancellation, with co-CEO George Cheeks writing that the decision was purely financial and made against a challenging economic backdrop for late night television programming. It was not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.” He also wrote that the decision was made “well before” Colbert’s July 14 monologue, in which he called Paramount’s settlement with Trump a “big fat bribe.”
The FCC signed off on the transaction last week, and it is scheduled to close on Aug. 7.
In her letter, McKinnon wrote about what Skydance sees as the public interest benefits of the transaction, including revitalizing “CBS television network and New Paramount’s 28 owned-and-operated local television stations, which will continue to serve local communities around the country, with a focus on delivering truth and earning the trust of the American public.”
As it sought the FCC green light for the merger, Skydance committed to enlisting an ombudsman in the news division. Just hours before the FCC announced its approval of the merger, Carr praised the commitment, while the sole Democrat on the FCC, Anna Gomez, criticized it, saying that Skydance would be agreeing to “never before seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial content.”
The the letter to the three senators, McKinnon denied that influence. She wrote, “Skydance believes in unbiased journalism and embraces a broad range of viewpoints. Upon closing of the acquisition, these guiding principles will ensure that editorial decision-making at CBS News reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers. Skydance likewise believes all content should reflect independent editorial judgment and be free from government intrusion and politicization.”
