Apparently it was ‘near impossible’ to get anyone to take part in the controversial episode
60 Minutes has aired a controversial episode on Donald Trump, despite CBS facing a huge lawsuit from the president.
In recent days, long-time host Scott Pelley called out Paramount, CBS’ parent company, for ‘supervising’ the TV show‘s stories in light of the massive lawsuit Trump filed against the network last year.
The filing in November 2024 came after 60 Minutes conducted an interview with Kamala Harris, who was running against Trump in the election.
Trump’s legal team alleged that the interview with Harris interfered with the election and ‘mislead the public and attempt to tip the scales of the presidential election in her favor’, CNN previously reported.
As a result of the suit between CBS and Trump, it’s thought that Paramount have become more cautious in its reporting of the president — something which Pelley and others at 60 Minutes have taken issue with, particularly in the wake of Bill Owens’ resignation.
“He was our boss, Bill was with CBS News almost 40 years, 26 years at 60 Minutes.
“He covered the world, covered combat, the White House, his was a quest to open minds, not close them.”
Pelley went on: “Our parent company Paramount is trying to complete a merger, the Trump administration must approve it.
“Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways, none of our stories have been blocked but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires.
“No one here is happy about it but in resigning Bill proved one thing, he was the right person to lead 60 Minutes all along.”
The Trump administration reportedly have to approve Paramount’s merger plans (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Despite Pelley’s claims about Paramount ‘supervising’ 60 Minutes’ content, the show proceeded to air a report on the Trump administration’s lawsuits that it has filed against a numerous law firms in America. The episode aired last night (May 4).
Titled ‘How law firms targeted by Trump are responding to White House pressure’, Pelley said in it that it was ‘near impossible’ to get anyone to take part in an interview as part of the controversial report.
The only person who did sit down with 60 Minutes to speak on the matter was Mark Alias, an American attorney and ‘long time opponent of Trump’s’.
“He was the only lawyer the president has named willing to appear on 60 Minutes,” Pelley said of Alias.
You can view the episode here.
