Dan Rather Condemns ‘Shameful’ CBS and ABC Settlements With Trump, Draws Parallels to His Ouster Under Bush

Broadcast legend Dan Rather has publicly condemned recent legal settlements between CBS, ABC, and former President Donald Trump, calling them a “sellout” and a dangerous sign of political interference in journalism. He also drew striking parallels between these events and his own controversial exit from CBS in 2004.

Back then, Sumner Redstone, the late Viacom chairman and a self-proclaimed “liberal Democrat,” shocked many by openly supporting Republican President George W. Bush in his re-election bid. Redstone was seeking FCC approval—under a Republican-controlled administration—for expanding CBS’s TV station portfolio. Around the same time, Rather aired a 60 Minutes II segment questioning Bush’s military record. Not long after, Rather and four CBS News staffers were dismissed.

“The corporation had a lot of money on the line. They didn’t want to upset the people in power,” Rather told Variety in an exclusive interview. “That’s what ended my career at CBS News—and the careers of several excellent journalists.”

Fast forward twenty years to another bitter election season, this time between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. A 60 Minutes interview with Harris triggered Trump’s anger while Shari Redstone, daughter of Sumner, was seeking FCC approval to sell Paramount to Skydance Media. Trump was also suing CBS for billions over the Harris interview. In July, CBS settled the lawsuit for $16 million—and just 22 days later, the FCC approved the deal.

Rather called the settlement “a sellout to presidential extortion” in a Variety op-ed.

Soon after, ABC followed suit, settling a separate defamation lawsuit with Trump for the same amount—$16 million—over comments George Stephanopoulos made during a This Week broadcast. For Rather, these settlements reflect a Fourth Estate under siege.

“It’s shameful,” he said. “What we are seeing is not normal.”

Rather, who has reported on everything from the Vietnam War to 9/11, says this erosion of press independence started well before Trump—or even Bush. Up until the mid-1980s, the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) were run by executives who saw news as a public service, not a corporate commodity. Even during the Watergate scandal in 1972, President Nixon tried to get CBS to fire Rather for asking “impertinent questions.” But back then, CBS founder William S. Paley—himself a Republican—refused to interfere with the newsroom.

“The difference is, back then they met political pressure with cold steel. Now they give cold marshmallows—at best,” Rather said.

The Netflix documentary Rather, directed by Frank Marshall and released on DVD this August, revisits this chapter in Rather’s career. Though he did little press when the film first premiered at Tribeca in 2023, recent events have prompted him to speak out.

“It was an unpleasant time,” Rather said of his departure from CBS. “But I understood it needed to be included in the documentary—and I didn’t try to control how it was handled. We didn’t do the Bush story perfectly, but I still stand by the core of it. The story was true.”

Marshall, best known for producing the Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones franchises, said he insisted on including this moment in Rather’s story, despite criticism Rather faced even from journalists at outlets like The New York Times.

“I didn’t want to make a puff piece,” Marshall said. “I had to highlight the key turning points in his career.”

Marshall had no idea how timely the documentary would become, four years after production began and two years after its debut.

“A healthy democracy is held accountable by the Fourth Estate,” he added. “Journalists dig into uncomfortable truths. That’s what keeps people honest. But today’s fragmented media landscape makes it hard to know what’s real anymore—and that’s tragic.”

As for whether Sumner Redstone directly ordered Rather’s firing? Marshall said, “I don’t know. But where there’s smoke, there’s fire. These days, nothing surprises me.”