In her first public appearance since selling her family company to David Ellison’s Skydance, Shari Redstone complimented Bari Weiss, defended Paramount’ settlement with Donald Trump and, amid the current furor over Disney’s yanking Jimmy Kimmel Live, said, “We all need to be thoughtful of the content we are putting on air.”
Disney yanked Kimmel’s late night show yesterday after two major station groups said they were preempting it for comments he made after the shooting death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
“What I would say about Jimmy Kimmel, is that people that have made the comparison with Stephen Colbert. I know that for us it was a business decision,” she said at the Axios Media Live Conference in New York. That’s what the company said at the time it announced plans to end the long run of the frequent mocker of Donald Trump, as the Paramount-Skydance merger languished at the FCC.
“I’m certainly not going to speak to why ABC made the decision [on Kimmel], or whether it was the right thing. I just think we all — not because of Trump or because of any other reasons — need to be thoughtful of the content we’re putting on air given the division that exists in this country. And that’s not a direct reflection on Kimmel, that’s just a much broader reflection on the world we’re living in and the responsibility we have to be thoughtful about what content we put on.”
Asked if she felt the current regulatory and political environment is pushing media companies to concede to intimidation – i.e. Disney yanking the show as well as Paramount settling with Trump and its cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert – she said no.
Paramount settled a lawsuit by Donald Trump against CBS News and 60 Minutes generally considered specious and winnable for $16 million as the company sought government approval for its sale to Skydance, which came shortly after. Skydance CEO David Ellison also agreed to appoint an ombudsman for CBS, bending to the FCC, the regulatory body that’s become increasingly controversial under its Trump-appointed chair Brendan Carr.
Redstone defended Paramount’s settlement. The suit “was really a distraction … and you never know what’s going to happen in discovery. The trial was set for two years from now, which would have meant this would have been a problem [that] continued for two years. There was a threat of a defamation case in Florida. And, you know, having previously in another life in an attorney, going to trial was never know, no matter how strong your case … I think the best thing that’s happened now is that the company in a position to move forward.”
The daughter of Sumner Redstone, who build Paramount up into a media powerhouse over decades, is a prominent crusader against antisemitism and has been outspoken about what she perceived as a lack of balance in newsrooms, including at CBS News. “I think it’s still a problem,” she said. “We need more accountability, we need more standards, we need checks and balances.
“I’m not involved in the management of the company, but … I think they are addressing the issue. They are bringing somebody in to do standards. I was very excited when Susan Zirinsky came on board and started reviewing that. And I think you immediately saw the change at the news. I think some of the journalists were actually grateful for the guidance that they were receiving.”
Zirinsky returned to CBS News in January as interim executive editor “to address feedback regarding perceived bias in some CBS News coverage,” the company said then.
Now Ellison is reported to be close to acquiring Bari Weiss’ startup The Free Press and giving her a leadership role at CBS News.
“I know there’s been talk about Bari and I think she would be a good voice … I do think she’s a voice that would bring a different perspective, and that I think at the end of the day, you’ve got to keep your audience credit for being smart enough to hear different points of view.”