Shari Redstone hoped Trump’s ’60 Minutes’ suit would root out anti-Israel bias at CBS News

Shari Redstone said she partly welcomed President Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News because she believed it could address the network’s anti-Israel bias — even as she revealed that it was the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that finally moved her to sell CBS parent Paramount.

“We needed more balance,” Redstone, the former chair of Paramount Global, told The New York Times in interviews conducted after Paramount’s $8 billion sale to Skydance Media closed earlier this month.

“Part of me thought, maybe Trump could accomplish what I never got done,” the entertainment heiress told the Times.

Redstone told the Times that for years she had resisted entreaties from potential suitors eager to buy Paramount. But what pushed her to finally agree to sell the family business was the Oct. 7 massacre of an estimated 1,200 Israelis.

“Once that happened, I wanted out,” she told the Times.

“I wanted to support Israel, and address issues around antisemitism and racism.”

But Redstone’s plans for an exit were complicated by the 2024 presidential election.

Weeks before voters went to the polling stations, Trump filed suit against “60 Minutes” alleging that the CBS News magazine show deceptively edited an interview with his Democratic opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, in order to make her look good.

Last month, both sides reached a $16 million settlement — sparking widespread outrage.

In her wide-ranging interview with the Times that was published on Tuesday, the 71-year-old media heiress, whose ex-husband and son are both rabbis, had grown increasingly frustrated with CBS News coverage she viewed as hostile to Israel.

She told the Times that her breaking point came just days before she withdrew from settlement talks with Trump in January of this year.

CBS aired a “60 Minutes” segment featuring State Department officials who quit over American support for Israel’s Gaza war — a piece the American Jewish Committee blasted as “shockingly one-sided, lacked factual accuracy, and relied heavily on misguided information.”

The segment focused on alleged Israeli atrocities while barely touching on the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the conflict.

Redstone wasn’t alone in her concerns.

Days after the segment aired, George Cheeks, who oversees CBS, shared Redstone’s dismay about the Gaza episode and soon appointed veteran producer Susan Zirinsky as executive editor to review “60 Minutes” segments — stripping the show of its traditional independence from corporate interference.

In April, the longtime executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens, departed after Zirinsky’s appointment undermined his autonomy.

In June, Scott Pelley, the veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent, blasted his corporate bosses at Paramount on air, warning that “honest” journalism at CBS might be ending if they went ahead and concluded a settlement with Trump.

The anti-Israel bias allegations had been mounting for months at CBS News.

In August 2024, the network’s standards director Mark Memmott issued an internal directive ordering staff not to identify Jerusalem as part of Israel, calling its status “disputed.”

The memo sparked outrage from pro-Israel groups and contradicted US government policy recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Two months later, CBS executives reprimanded morning anchor Tony Dokoupil for pressing author Ta-Nehisi Coates about anti-Israel criticisms in his book.

Dokoupil had asked whether Coates’ writing belonged “in the backpack of an extremist” — questions some CBS brass deemed too aggressive. Redstone defended Dokoupil in the wake of his rebuke.

“I think Tony handled that interview exceptionally well,” Redstone said at the time.

“I was genuinely proud of his efforts. Although it was difficult for me to oppose the company, I believe they erred in this instance… I have a voice in our platform, as does everyone.”

Redstone, who was widely criticized for backing a settlement rather than fighting in court, told the Times she was in favor of reaching a deal with Trump because the lawsuit was filed in Texas, where a more conservative judge would have been more hostile to CBS’s position.

She told the paper that “this case was never as black-and-white as people assumed” — despite legal experts who said they were confident CBS News would prevail in court.

“I believe it was always in Paramount’s best interest to settle,” Redstone told the Gray Lady in an interview published on Tuesday.

“We may not like the world we live in, but a board has to do what’s in the best interest of shareholders.”

While the criticism reached a fever pitch, Redstone’s frustration boiled over as she battled cancer while trying to close the Paramount sale.

Diagnosed with thyroid cancer that had spread to her vocal cords, she underwent surgery and radiation as critics including Matt Drudge of “The Drudge Report” website branded her the “Woman Who Destroyed CBS News.”

Redstone was also hurt by criticism from Lesley Stahl, the longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent, according to the Times.

In June, Stahl said she was “angry” with Redstone over her handling of the Trump lawsuit. Stahl’s comments were published at the same time that Redstone was undergoing treatments for cancer.

“To have a news organization come under corporate pressure—to have a news organization told by a corporation, ‘do this, do that with your story, change this, change that, don’t run that piece.’ I mean, it steps on the First Amendment, it steps on the freedom of the press,” Stahl said at the time.

“It steps on what we stand for. It makes me question whether any corporation should own a news operation. It is very disconcerting.”

Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit over CBS’s editing of a Kamala Harris interview offered unexpected leverage. Though Redstone found most of Trump’s claims “hyperbolic,” she saw an opportunity.

The network had edited Harris’s answer about Israel between two broadcasts, sparking Trump’s fury. CBS News executives refused to release the unedited footage, setting up a legal battle that threatened to derail the Skydance merger.

Redstone pushed hard for settlement, arguing it was in shareholders’ best interest. The board eventually agreed to pay $16 million toward Trump’s presidential library — far less than Redstone expected.

“I was blown away,” she said of the settlement terms.

But her reputation took another hit when The Post reported a mysterious “side deal” worth $20 million in free advertising for Trump. Redstone knew nothing about it and was upset.

“I hope it isn’t true,” she told the Times.

Adding insult to injury, CBS didn’t even consult Redstone before canceling Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” — she learned about it minutes before Colbert announced it on air, according to the Times.

The Skydance deal valued Paramount at just $8 billion — a third of its worth when Redstone took control in 2019. Netflix now spends $15.3 billion annually on content versus Paramount’s $4.4 billion.

“I just wanted to be free,” Redstone told the Times, ending four decades of her family’s controversial reign over one of America’s most influential news organizations.

The Post has sought comment from Redstone and CBS News.