It's Stephen Colbert's turn to let Paramount have it over Trump settlement

Looks like the Fielder Method of being really mean to Paramount has gained another disciple. Stephen Colbert was the latest Paramount employee to take shots at the parent company from one of its very own networks. Returning from a short break (with a mustache!), Colbert said on The Late Show that Paramount (which owns his network, CBS) had settled over Trump’s “nuisance” lawsuit in what essentially amounted to a “big fat bribe.” “As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended and I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company,” he continued. “But just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”

It’s a line of criticism we’ve now heard a few times from various Paramount employees. In April, months before the final settlement amount was reached, 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley laid bare the stakes of the deal, saying on-air, “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.” Last week, Jon Stewart also broke down the deal with former 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft, who characterized it as a “shakedown” and “a tribute to the king.”