CBS won't poke the bear, settles discrimination lawsuit

Paramount won't risk its merger to provoke President Trump over a SEAL Team diversity lawsuit.

By Mary Kate Carr | April 21, 2025 | 2:19pm

Photo: Trae Patton/Paramount+

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CBS won't poke the bear, settles discrimination lawsuit

Hollywood’s frantic attempt to appease the current administration’s anti-diversity bottom line continues as CBS settles the lawsuit brought by SEAL Team script coordinator Brian Beneker, who alleged that, as a straight white man, he was denied a staff writer position on the show due to hiring practices favoring minority applicants who were less qualified. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Beneker’s suit “sought at least $500,000, as well as a court order making him a full-time producer on the series and barring the further use of discriminatory hiring practices.” The two parties settled for an undisclosed amount with the understanding that the “action and all claims and defenses asserted therein, be dismissed with prejudice.”

Almost a year ago, the company defended its hiring practices under the auspices of the First Amendment: “CBS’s alleged decision to prioritize diversity in its writers’ rooms is protected by the First Amendment because — as Beneker’s complaint recognizes — who writes for a creative production like SEAL Team affects the stories that SEAL Team tells,” a CBS lawyer argued (via Variety). “So limiting CBS’s ability to select the writers of its choice — as Beneker seeks to do here — unconstitutionally impairs CBS’s ability to shape its message.”

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But the political landscape looked a lot different when CBS promoted that defense in 2024. Now, studios are dropping diversity, equity, and inclusion goals from their missions in response to threats and coercion from President Donald Trump. FCC Chair Brendan Carr recently suggested the government might block mergers if companies don’t fall in line on the issue, and CBS’ parent company Paramount has a merger in process with Skydance Media. Arguing in favor of DEI hiring policies in a lawsuit backed by Trump advisor Stephen Miller might put Paramount in the crosshairs. Seeing that through would require serious spine, which CBS doesn’t have because corporations aren’t people.