{"id":2467334,"date":"2025-07-27T13:01:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T17:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dems-push-pay-off-conspiracy-as-trumps-fcc-approves-paramount-merger-following-colbert-firing\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T13:02:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T17:02:37","slug":"dems-push-pay-off-conspiracy-as-trumps-fcc-approves-paramount-merger-following-colbert-firing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dems-push-pay-off-conspiracy-as-trumps-fcc-approves-paramount-merger-following-colbert-firing\/","title":{"rendered":"Dems Push Pay-Off Conspiracy as Trump&#8217;s FCC Approves Paramount Merger Following Colbert Firing"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdems-push-pay-off-conspiracy-as-trumps-fcc-approves-paramount-merger-following-colbert-firing%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2467334&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>some Democratic Party members suspect that the cancellation of CBSS &#8220;The Late Show&#8221; with Stephen Colbert, set for May 2026, might potentially be politically motivated. These theories have <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >emerged amid recent developments including<\/a> a $16 million settlement Paramount paid too former President Donald Trump over a lawsuit related to a &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; interview, and the Federal Communications Commission&#8217;s approval of a merger between Paramount and Skydance Media.Critics point to the settlement and merger as possibly influencing the show&#8217;s cancellation, with Democratic figures like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff expressing concerns about possible political interference. FCC Chair Brendan Carr, appointed by Trump, emphasized the need for change in legacy media and welcomed Skydance&#8217;s planned reforms at CBS but denied any connection between the lawsuit, merger, and the show&#8217;s cancellation. The situation has sparked important debate over media independence and political influence in broadcasting.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Some members of the Democratic Party are theorizing that the cancellation of &ldquo;The Late Show&rdquo; with Stephen Colbert was political in nature, claims which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dow-drops-500-pts-live-updates\/\" title=\"Stock market plummets: Dow down 500 points. Stay tuned for updates\">arise amid<\/a> a Trump settlement with Paramount and a forthcoming merger between the company and Skydance Media.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/colbert-isnt-handling-cancelled-launches-vile-trump-attack-air\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Colbert<\/a> recently announced that &ldquo;The Late Show&rdquo; would be taken off the air by CBS as of May 2026, prompting outrage among Democratic figureheads and progressive leaders.<\/p>\n<p>The news came shortly before the Federal Communications Commission said they would permit a merger between Paramount and Skydance, which in turn came weeks after Paramount agreed to pay $16 million for President Donald Trump&rsquo;s future presidential library in a lawsuit settlement, according to a Thursday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/paramount-merger-approved-after-16-million-trump-pay-off\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from the Daily Beast.<\/p>\n<p>As the left-wing outlet framed the story, &ldquo;Paramount Merger Approved After $16 Million Trump Pay-Off.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A statement from FCC Chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, fed into their claims of malfeasance.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Americans no longer trust the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fcc-approves-8-billion-skydance-merger-with-paramount-after-dei-assurances-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"FCC approves  billion ... ... with ... after DEI assurances - Washington Examiner\">legacy national news media<\/a> to report fully, accurately and fairly,&rdquo; Carr <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/07\/24\/business\/media\/fcc-skydance-merger-paramount.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">remarked<\/a> to The New York Times.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is time for a change,&rdquo; he continued.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That is why I welcome Skydance&rsquo;s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>CBS, which is a division of Paramount and the broadcaster of &ldquo;The Late Show,&rdquo; was the subject of the lawsuit ending in the $16 million settlement, since &ldquo;60 Minutes&rdquo; aired what Trump believed was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desantis-hits-cbs-after-they-claim-deceptive-editing-was-for-clarity-heres-what-they-didnt-tell-you\/\" title=\"DeSantis Hits ... After They Claim Deceptive Editing Was \u2018For Clarity\u2019: Here\u2019s What They Didn\u2019t Tell You\">deceptively edited interview<\/a> with former Vice President Kamala Harris during the election cycle.<\/p>\n<p>Carr and Paramount have both said that the lawsuit and the FCC review of the merger were not linked, but Democrats are still skeptical, as made clear by the Daily Beast&rsquo;s framing of the settlement as a &ldquo;Pay-Off.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Democratic lawmakers have been making similar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/telling-democratic-senators-freaking-stephen-colberts-cancellation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">accusations<\/a> with respect to the settlement ever since Colbert announced the cancellation.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;CBS canceled Colbert&rsquo;s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump &mdash; a deal that looks like bribery,&rdquo; Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on social media.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Just finished taping with Stephen Colbert who announced his show was cancelled. If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better,&rdquo; California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff offered.<\/p>\n<p>CNN host Brian Stelter tried to frame the settlement in a broader narrative of purported Trump animus toward the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/dismantling-democracy-sunny-hostin-cries-end-colbert-end-constitution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">journalism<\/a> profession.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;CBS News did nothing wrong,&rdquo; Stelter said on social media.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;But its parent company still paid the price. That&rsquo;s the moral of the Paramount settlement story. And it&rsquo;s a story that keeps repeating itself in the Trump era.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>With the latest news of the merger between Paramount and Skydance, such theories are likely to receive more oxygen.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some Democrats speculate that the cancellation of Stephen Colbert&#8217;s &#8220;The Late Show&#8221; was politically motivated. These claims come in the context of a $16 million settlement between Trump and Paramount, as well as an upcoming merger between Paramount and Skydance Media. Colbert revealed that CBS would end the show by May 2026, sparking criticism from Democratic leaders and progressives. This announcement followed the FCC&#8217;s approval of the Paramount-Skydance merger, shortly after Paramount settled a lawsuit with Trump over a disputed &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; interview during the election cycle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2467335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Michael-Featured-Image-31.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[3985,16609,60029,5894],"class_list":["post-2467334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-conspiracy","tag-fcc","tag-paramount-merger","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Michael-Featured-Image-31.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2467334"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2467338,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467334\/revisions\/2467338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2467335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2467334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2467334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2467334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}