{"id":52061,"date":"2025-08-01T08:06:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T08:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/52061\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T08:06:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T08:06:11","slug":"skydance-tells-senators-it-wasnt-involved-in-colbert-late-show-cancellation-complied-with-anti-bribery-laws-in-paramount-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/52061\/","title":{"rendered":"Skydance Tells Senators It Wasn’t Involved in Colbert ‘Late Show’ Cancellation, Complied With Anti-Bribery Laws in Paramount Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSkydance Media<\/a> has responded to an inquiry from three left-wing U.S. senators who expressed concerns about \u201cbribery\u201d with respect to the Trump administration\u2019s approval of its deal to acquire Paramount Global<\/a> \u2014 and had questioned whether Skydance had any part in the cancellation of \u201cThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a July 21 letter<\/a> to Skydance CEO David Ellison, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Ron Wyden asked a series of pointed questions about Skydance\u2019s Paramount deal. Among those: \u201cIs there currently any arrangement under which you or Skydance will provide compensation, advertising, or promotional activities that in any way assist President Trump, his family, his presidential library, or other Administration officials?\u201d The letter also asked, \u201cWere you or other Skydance executives involved in discussions about canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a reply sent Thursday (July 31) to the senators obtained by Variety, Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, Skydance\u2019s general counsel and co-president of business operations, said in part, \u201cThroughout its history and during the review of the proposed acquisition of Paramount, Skydance has fully complied with all applicable laws, including our nation\u2019s anti-bribery laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSkydance was \u201cnot involved\u201d in CBS\u2019s decision to cancel \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert,\u201d according to McKinnon. \u201cParamount did provide notice of its decision to Skydance [about Colbert\u2019s show being canceled], but only after Paramount reached its own independent decision, and shortly before Paramount publicly acknowledged the cancellation.\u201d CBS said the cancellation of Colbert\u2019s show was \u201cpurely a financial decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe senators\u2019 letter also noted that Trump has claimed he had a side deal with Skydance under which the new owners of the merged company are expected to contribute $20 million<\/a> in advertising, public service announcements and \u201csimilar programming\u201d that promote causes he favors. That purportedly would be in addition to Paramount\u2019s $16 million payment to settle his lawsuit accusing \u201c60 Minutes\u201d of deceptively editing a pre-election interview with Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the letter, McKinnon didn\u2019t directly address the question of whether Skdyance has a \u201cside deal\u201d with the president for free advertising or other airtime. She wrote, \u201cSkydance was neither a party to the lawsuit nor to Paramount\u2019s settlement of its litigation with the President.\u201d Paramount has said that its settlement with Trump \u2014 under which most of the\u00a0$16 million will go to his future presidential library<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 \u201cdoes not include PSAs or anything related to PSAs. Paramount has no knowledge of any promises or commitments made to President Trump other than those set forth in the settlement proposed by the mediator and accepted by the parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUnder the transaction agreement, according to McKinnon, \u201cParamount had full discretion to settle any outstanding litigation unrelated to the transaction for up to $50 million without Skydance\u2019s consent.\u201d On July 1, Paramount requested Skydance\u2019s consent \u201cto only one particular term relating to the publication of transcripts of interviews of Presidential candidates. Skydance did not believe its consent was required, but acceded to Paramount\u2019s request and provided it,\u201d McKinnon wrote.<\/p>\n

\n\tTwo days before the FCC approved the Skydance-Paramount deal<\/a>, which is now set to close Aug. 7<\/a>, Skydance\u2019s McKinnon sent two letters to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr<\/a>. In one, she said Skydance would install an ombudsman at CBS to review \u201ccomplaints of bias or other concerns\u201d as part of ensuring \u201cviewpoint diversity.\u201d In the other, she said Skydance confirmed that Paramount eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, that Skydance doesn\u2019t have DEI initiatives and that the company committed to not implement any in the future.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn her July 31 letter to the senators, McKinnon reiterated that \u201cSkydance is committed to promoting non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity and fully complying with applicable laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe also wrote, \u201cSkydance 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAs with any transaction that requires regulatory approval, Skydance executives and its representatives have had routine and customary interactions with government officials, including with the Administration, Congress, and federal regulators,\u201d McKinnon concluded in the letter to Warren, Sanders and Wyden. \u201cWe value productive relationships across all levels of government and look forward to strengthening those, including with you and your colleagues, in the months and years ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Skydance Media has responded to an inquiry from three left-wing U.S. senators who expressed concerns about \u201cbribery\u201d with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[88,13728,3093,27689,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-52061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-late-show-with-stephen-colbert","10":"tag-paramount-global","11":"tag-skydance-media","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}