Jon Stewart is publicly torching CBS parent company Paramount Global and its controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, accusing them of capitulating to President Donald Trump’s political pressure in order to advance an $8 billion merger with Skydance Media.
Stewart, star of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, which is a subsidiary of Paramount Global, said the media climate has deteriorated to the point where “all must pay tribute to the king,” likening recent corporate payouts and newsroom purges to mafia-style extortion.
“They just put money into the pot so that hopefully they don’t get [targeted],” Stewart told “The Bill Simmons Podcast” on Friday.
“They’re paying — what does that remind you of, Michael? Protection money. Right? It’s protection money.”
His comments come as Redstone, who stands to personally gain around $2 billion if the Skydance deal goes through, supported the ouster of CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon — a move sources told The Post signals progress in mediation talks aimed at settling Trump’s $20 billion defamation lawsuit against Paramount.
The lawsuit alleges CBS deceptively edited a “60 Minutes” interview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris during the 2024 election cycle.
Stewart dismissed the lawsuit as a pretext to extract financial concessions.
“It certainly doesn’t rise to the level of libel, slander or whatever the f–k else they think they’re doing with a $20 billion lawsuit. It was a purely subjective editorial decision,” he said.
“Ultimately, what an awful precedent that these media companies have set.”
McMahon was reportedly pushed out after resisting efforts to settle with Trump, which insiders say contributed to the resignation of veteran “60 Minutes” producer Bill Owens.
In her resignation memo, McMahon wrote: “It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward.”
CBS CEO George Cheeks told staff she would remain for several weeks to assist with the transition.
Stewart wasn’t subtle in his implication that Redstone was behind the moves, suggesting that top CBS executives were told to issue apologies as part of the merger strategy.
“Imagine paying $50 million for f–king nothing just to get somebody to approve a merger. It’s bribery,” he said.
“They have to apologize. And these people looked at it and thought, ‘There’s no f–king way I’m going to apologize for doing my job the way it’s supposed to be done just because this one guy is offended by it.’”
Sources told The Post that Skydance executive Jeff Shell had little confidence in McMahon’s ability to steer CBS News.
Her departure followed multiple controversies, including plummeting ratings, poor newsroom morale and backlash over perceived interference in editorial decisions — such as reprimanding anchor Tony Dokoupil for a tough interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates on Israel-Hamas tensions.
“I mean, look what they’re doing now at ’60 Minutes’ and CBS News and everything else,” Stewart said.
“I don’t know if these institutions I thought would last my lifetime are going to survive this. It’s insane.”
The “Daily Show” host broadened his criticism to include other media titans.
“ABC had to pay $15 million. [Amazon founder Jeff] Bezos had to pay $40 million for a documentary on Melania. [Meta CEO Mark] Zuckerberg had to pay,” Stewart said, arguing these were examples of companies bowing to Trump to avoid legal threats.
He warned that Redstone’s approach sets a dangerous precedent that Trump will exploit further.
“Now he’ll go after Harvard and Comcast or whatever the hell else he does. Because a policy of appeasement always leads to more conquest. It’s tragic,” Stewart said.
The Post has sought comment from Paramount Global, Meta, Bezos and ABC News.
