Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. Discover Looms As CBS News Drama Continues

Following CBS News’ postponement of a “60 Minutes” segment examining the Trump administration’s deportation of Venezuelan migrants to the CECOT prison in El Salvador, some media outlets have raised questions about whether the move was intended to curry favor with the administration amid an escalating battle for Discovery of Warner Bros..

Paramount and its majority shareholders, the billionaire Ellison family, recently sweetened their offer for Warner Bros. Discovery to the tune of $108 billion. Given that WBD is currently in the process of closing a deal to sell its film and streaming assets to Netflix, Paramount’s offer is considered hostile.

This week, Weiss created an uproar over his decision to delay the airing of a “60 Minutes” segment on CECOT, an unusual move given that the network had already begun promoting the program before its scheduled Sunday night broadcast.

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Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi interviewed Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to the notorious prison for the segment, which was leaked online Monday after it aired in Canada. Alfonsi lashed out at Weiss in a memo to colleagues, saying it was a political decision and would be considered corporate censorship.

Weiss told staff Monday that she didn’t believe the story was ready to air and called on her colleagues to engage in disagreements in a respectful manner. In her notes to her “60 Minutes” colleagues about the segment, Weiss called for more aggressive efforts to bring Trump officials on camera and denounced a “bizarre” portion involving a prison analysis by Berkeley students. She has not called for removing the segment altogether, but rather wants more reporting before it can air.

Liberal media figures think something rotten is afoot, with several breathless reports alleging that Weiss’s actions are linked to corporate machinations and the Ellisons’ ties to President Donald Trump.

A report from Tuesday of New York Magazine’s The Intelligencer suggested that the Ellisons were vying for favorable treatment from the Trump administration by censoring the segment. Larry Ellison, the billionaire father of Paramount CEO David Ellison and a Trump ally, offered $40 billion of his own money in equity to help sweeten the deal.

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“The Ellisons, among the world’s richest men, bought Paramount earlier this year and are now taking on an even bigger fish: They hope Trump will use his antitrust power to scuttle Netflix’s purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery and allow Paramount, instead, to consume WB, creating a new entertainment and media juggernaut,” claimed New York Magazine.

Despite this alleged power grab, The Intelligencer argued that the Ellisons are “not yet on Trump’s good side, and that the president “is still angry at 60 Minutes and it’s still not sycophancy toward him — not in the way he would like.”

Indeed, Trump launched the show “60 Minutes” on Truth Social last week, saying the show has been treating him even worse than before since David Ellison took over Paramount following its merger with Skydance Media this year.

A Monday report Progressive media outlet The Intercept has been even more explicit in its accusations of corporate interference related to Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

The outlet claimed that Weiss’ decision to increase the segment was “a perfect example of why new Paramount owner David Ellison hired her in the first place.”

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“[Weiss’] The job is to succumb to Trump, yes, but largely as a means – not an end in itself. If Trump favors CBS and Paramount, it could jeopardize the impending merger between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery, help Ellison take over WBD himself and consolidate the Ellison family’s media focus to further advance his business interests and right-wing ideology,” The Intercept said.

The report goes on to argue that Trump’s second term has been marked by “a complete abandonment of antitrust law” and that the Ellisons “have an opportunity to consolidate unprecedented control of the media in the hands of a single company.”

The outlet argued that, through the power of the federal government’s antitrust laws, Trump could tip the scales in favor of the Ellisons in the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery.

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According to the outlet, Weiss and Ellison’s “interference” with “60 Minutes” is not necessarily intended to promote “Trumpism,” but rather to promote Ellison’s agenda and expand their vast media empire.

Earlier this year, Paramount completed an $8 billion merger with Skydance Media that required approval from the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, CBS News, which is owned by Paramount, settled an election interference lawsuit with Trump for $16 million over how he edited a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris. The lawsuit was called spurious by critics and the settlement was considered as an effective bribee to get the merger across the finish line, while his supporters said Trump was simply holding a liberal media outlet responsible for its dishonesty.

Weiss Defenders Online said his ideas for improving the story were entirely reasonable, and reports that Alfonsi’s segment did not include Official responses from the White House, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security led to further discussions.

There is no evidence that Weiss made editorial decisions based on commercial or political pressure. Since becoming editor-in-chief of CBS News in October, her tenure has been closely scrutinized given her views, particularly for her pro-Israel and anti-woke views.

Alfonsi was also the correspondent behind a controversial “60 Minutes” segment in 2021 that alleged a pay-to-play scheme between Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Publix that was harshly criticized by the state’s Democrats and Republicans.

One thing is clear, however: if Weiss was hoping to draw less attention to the story by choosing to delay it, she was sorely mistaken. The slice, which can be seen herereceived infinitely more scrutiny than it would have had it been released as planned.

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Weiss and CBS News did not immediately return comments Fox News Digital» requests for feedback.

Fox News’ David Rutz and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.