The Coward Billionaire and the Tyrant She’s Enabling

Shari Redstone’s deal with Trump is a deal with the devil—and it threatens us all.

There comes a time when silence is complicity. And when that silence is backed by billions of dollars and control over one of the most powerful media conglomerates in America, it’s not just complicity—it’s collaboration.

Let me be blunt: if Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount Global, caves to Donald Trump’s baseless, frivolous lawsuit against 60 Minutes, she will be legitimizing authoritarianism. She’ll be giving aid and comfort to a man who has spent years trying to undermine the free press, warp reality, and dismantle the very institutions that protect American democracy.

And she’ll be doing it for one reason: greed.

Trump’s lawsuit against 60 Minutes is not serious. It’s not grounded in law or fact. It’s a tantrum disguised as litigation. This is the same man who’s called the press the “enemy of the people.” He’s sued media outlets before—not to win, but to intimidate. To bully. To punish truth-tellers. That’s what this is. A power move. A test.

And Shari Redstone is failing it.

Make no mistake: settling with Trump isn’t just a business decision. It’s a signal. It tells every autocrat and strongman wannabe that if you throw enough legal garbage at the wall, major American institutions will buckle. It tells journalists everywhere that truth isn’t a defense—it’s a liability.

It spits in the face of what American troops have died to protect.

I served in Iraq. I flew missions with the Air National Guard. I’ve been to the funerals. I’ve seen flag-draped coffins come home. Those men and women didn’t lay down their lives so billionaires could throw our values in the trash to protect their stock price. They sacrificed for liberty. For the First Amendment. For a nation that tells the truth, even when it’s hard.

Shari Redstone doesn’t seem to get that. She’s too busy chasing merger deals, cashing out legacy assets, and finding new ways to monetize what’s left of an empire her family built. But if she thinks propping up Trump to squeeze out a few more bucks from a dying entertainment company is going to end well, she’s mistaken. Because there is a line. There are consequences.

If she goes through with this—if she settles with Trump and sells out 60 Minutes, one of the remaining institutions of real investigative journalism on network television—then maybe it’s time we stop watching. Maybe it’s time we stop giving our money, our attention, and our legitimacy to her companies.

We’ve watched Trump sue, harass, and bully anyone who holds him accountable. But this moment isn’t about him. It’s about us. It’s about whether we still have the guts to stand for something. Whether we’ll allow the slow creep of authoritarianism to be normalized by cowardice and corporate self-interest.

So, Shari: if you cave to Trump, don’t expect silence.

Expect backlash.

Expect accountability.

And maybe—just maybe—expect a boycott.

Because democracy is worth more than your next deal. SHAME!