Overview

• On July 31, Skydance General Counsel Stephanie McKinnon replied to a Senate Democrats letter questioning alleged side deals tied to President Trump’s $16 million CBS settlement.
• McKinnon affirmed that Skydance fully complied with anti-bribery laws and was neither party to the settlement nor any related public service advertising commitments.
• She noted that under merger terms, Paramount had sole discretion to settle litigation up to $50 million without Skydance’s consent as proof of its non-involvement.
• Skydance also denied involvement in Paramount’s decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, citing co-CEO George Cheeks’s explanation that the cancellation was a financial decision made before Colbert’s July 14 monologue.
• The $8.4 billion Skydance-Paramount merger, approved July 24 by the FCC with conditions including a CBS News ombudsman and rollback of DEI programs, is set to close on August 7.