• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

Will Trump Kill the Paramount Deal?

An insider debate over how the Paramount-Skydance sale actually plays out: Will Shari settle the ‘60 Minutes’ suit? Is Trump pulling Brendan Carr’s strings? Can the president be flattered into approving the deal? And what’s the future of CBS if its owners bend the knee?

donald trump brendan carr
And to the extent that the case is connected to the F.C.C. approval, chairman Brendan Carr must know that Redstone and/or Ellison could sue if he blocks the transaction—and, given the lack of antitrust issues and the high standard for “bias,” they’d probably win. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Eriq Gardner
&
Matthew Belloni
April 29, 2025

The seemingly endless, $8 billion merger of Skydance and Paramount remains the hottest topic in the media business—and with good reason. Every week seems to bring a fresh complication. The F.C.C. is dragging its feet on regulatory approval, and Donald Trump’s lawsuit over 60 Minutes’s election coverage lurks in the background. Is there some kind of détente on the horizon, or will the whole thing collapse under the weight of legal and political theatrics?