Paramount. Follow the Money and Drag Them Into the "Kiss Cam"

Christine Merser, July 22, 2025

Here’s a letter to admire, written by a friend, who sent it to me yesterday.

Ms. Shari Redstone
Chair, Paramount Global
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036

Dear Ms. Redstone,

I write to you as a deeply concerned citizen and media consumer to express my outrage, disappointment, and unequivocal disapproval over two decisions that have shaken public trust in CBS, Paramount Global, and you, as a leader: the $16 million payment to Donald Trump over a claim that would not have withstood serious legal scrutiny, and the firing of Stephen Colbert — a voice of conscience and satire in an increasingly fragile democracy.

You, Ms. Redstone, bear the rare and sobering responsibility of leading a legacy media institution at a defining moment for our country. History will remember not only the institutions you oversee, but the choices you make as their steward. Your legacy is not yet written — but it will be. Will you be remembered as a defender of democratic ideals, someone who stood firm in the face of pressure and upheld the public trust? Or as a figure who blinked in the face of pressure and turned your back on the role the press is meant to play in a democracy. History won’t remember your balance sheets. It will remember your capitulation. Many before you have faced the same test — choosing between principle and complicity — and we remember them with admiration or with infamy. The choice is yours. The moment demands moral courage.

Once considered the fourth pillar of democracy, American media is now at risk of becoming the scaffolding for authoritarianism. Your decisions accelerate that descent. History will remember, and we will not forget.

There is still time to do the right thing. Reinstate Stephen Colbert and recommit CBS to journalism that upholds democratic ideals — not undermines them. Stand for truth. Uphold integrity. Help lead the media back to its rightful role: informing the public, challenging power, and protecting democracy.

Do better. Our future depends on it.

Sincerely,

Here’s the line I wish I had written,

“Once considered the fourth pillar of democracy, American media is now at risk of becoming the scaffolding for authoritarianism. Your decisions accelerate that descent. History will remember, and we will not forget.”

Yes. That.

The letter was in response to two decisions that should rattle every person who still believes the press has a sacred role in democracy. Paramount Global's sixteen million dollar payout to Donald Trump over a lawsuit that would not have survived real legal scrutiny, and the firing of Stephen Colbert, one of the last late-night voices willing to call out the creeping authoritarianism of our time with clarity and wit.

I talk to one of my posse about this stuff a lot. She writes to her senators and her reps, and I roll my eyes. To what end? Senator Collins? Surely you jest. She wrings her hands, and I want to tie them behind her back like a scene out of Fifty Shades of Grey.

But corporate executives? I am all in. That is where the pressure should land.

The letter to Ms. Redstone is already great, but I would have added this.

“I have canceled my Paramount Plus subscription, which is a shame because I love your programming. Yellowstone, Yellowjackets, and CBS Sunday Morning, which will now never cross my screen again. Every week until Colbert is reinstated and this shameful payout is addressed, I will publicly name you as complicit in the erosion of American democracy. You are as guilty as the MAGA regime you just empowered. Good God, woman, have you never read Katharine Graham’s biography? Do you know what she stood to lose personally during the Pentagon Papers? Shame on you.”

And that letter? It should not just sit in a file. It should be printed in newspapers across the country, blasted on social media, and emailed to every Paramount board member with a subject line that reads, We’re not going away.

Because here is the truth. CEOs do not fear Congress. They do not fear voters. But they do fear a viral narrative that threatens their jobs. And their company’s revenue streams. And viewers matter to Paramount.

Just ask Andy Byron, CEO of Astronomer, who resigned over the weekend. A man who went viral for bringing his girlfriend to a Coldplay concert while his wife was home with the kids. He figured, what are the odds? Forty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight other people in that stadium. Surely he had privacy.

That is the formula. Find the pressure point. And push.

You want to take down MAGA? Follow the money.

Let Ms. Redstone hear from all of us this week. Let the people around her hear from us. Let the local papers hear from us. Post this letter. Send your own. Call your friends in media. Say their names. Demand answers. And above all, drag their cowardice into the light.

Because the thing they count on, the thing that has always protected them, is our silence.

Not this time.

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Social Media Posts

Instagram (carousel or reel idea):

Slide 1: “Paramount just paid Trump $16 million.”

Slide 2: “Then they fired Colbert.”

Slide 3: “This isn’t a coincidence. It’s complicity.”

Slide 4: “We’re canceling Paramount+ and calling out Chairwoman Shari Redstone.”

Slide 5: “The media used to hold the line. Now it’s selling out.”

Slide 6: “Tag @ParamountPlus. Tell them we’re not going away.”

X (Twitter):

Paramount paid Trump $16M to settle a nothing lawsuit. Then they fired Colbert. You don’t have to connect the dots. They already did it for you.

#BoycottParamount #ColbertWasRight #FollowTheMoney

Once upon a time, Katharine Graham risked everything to publish the Pentagon Papers.
Shari Redstone just cut a check to Trump and pulled Colbert off the air.

Shame wears a red dress now.

#CancelParamountPlus #MediaFail

CEOs don’t fear Congress. They fear going viral.

Let’s remind Shari Redstone what happens when you turn democracy into a punchline.

@ParamountPlus @CBS #RestoreColbert

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Letters & Recipients

Send a printed version of the letter to:

Shari Redstone
Chair, Paramount Global
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036

Bob Bakish
President and CEO, Paramount Global
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036

Paramount Global Board Members
[List available publicly here: https://www.paramount.com/leadership]

Also send to:

Stephen Colbert
c/o CBS Television
51 W 52nd St
New York, NY 10019

Suggested Sound Bites for Letters:

• “You may not fear Congress, but you should fear the loss of cultural credibility.”

• “History won’t be kind to those who stayed silent while the lights went out.”

• “This isn’t cancel culture. It’s accountability.”

• “You don’t get to prop up fascism and call it balance.”

• “You chose Trump over truth. We noticed.”Here is the paragraph I wish were mine.