Shari Redstone is undoubtedly familiar with "The Godfather, Part Two". After all, it is one of the most famous films in the Paramount Global Library controlled by her and her family. Redstone may not have time to watch the 1974 classic this week, but anyway. She is living.

"The Godfather, Part Two" focuses on the difficult choices made by the protagonist Michael Corleone, who chose to keep his family's illegal business empire rather than leaning towards the needs of his actual members. All his time is spent playing against and defending against competitors, losing his spouse in the process, killing his brother whose weakness gives the enemy a chance to wreak havoc.

Redstone is not a crime boss, but she faces similar decisions about doing the best things for the Paramount family members and the best suited for her family business.

One of the most precious properties in Paramount’s portfolio is CBS News Magazine “60 Minutes.” The plan has been standing in the center of President Donald Trump's fragile but effective legal forgery for several months. According to the lawsuit, filed in November 2024 in federal court in the North District of Texas, "60 Minutes" attempted to mislead voters by airing two different remarks in an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, a rival to Trump. Legal experts believe that the president has very little status. Interestingly, the report aired in October and was nominated for the Emmy Awards this week.

But the Trump lawsuit — the president is seeking CBS’ $20 billion currency loss — remains a problem. Paramount has not mediated with Trump's lawyers instead of disturbing nuisance, and Redstone hopes to bring the company closer to the sale to Skydance Media and push the deal toward a review of the Trump-controlled FCC, which is also opening an investigation into the "60 Minutes" issue. A complete deal will bring sick dispatch to new capital as it attempts to adapt to an industry that makes wired networks (a large part of the company’s portfolio) obsolete through streaming services.

In this unique situation, company leaders are more likely to prefer the entire business, said Anant Sundaram, a professor at Dartmouth Tuck School of Business. Once the deal is reached, Sundaram said, “The CEO hopes to finish the deal yesterday before many factors can be achieved.” He added that Paramount’s current situation brings “uncertainty that CEOs hate, which is right.” In the current era, when streaming disrupts economics in the media sector, Paramount may see Skydance as a more reliable bet than the “60 minutes” linear viewership.

"The most important thing is that there is a feeling that the regulatory process won't come true," Sundarum said. "And Trump's lawsuit is a huge wrench in the work."

Paramount and Trump Attorneys are believed to have entered the mediation, a process that will cast a shadow during Redstone’s tenure, overseeing Paramount, which she took over from her father, Sumner Redstone. Shari Redstone drives a new portfolio of CBS assets and assets that once part of a company known as Viacom, once two separate companies. However, the portfolio also includes Showtime Pay-Cable sockets, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Movie Studio, has been slapped by the large cable TV attributes that have been investing in starving to death for years, and isn't big enough to surpass the Maneuver digital giant like Netflix, Apple and Amazon. It might be better if Redstone sold the pieces instead of trying to put them all together.

She seems willing to solve the "60 Minutes" thing, which has also brought other consequences. Last week, Bill Owens, who was just the third executive producer of the show’s nearly sixty years, suddenly resigned, saying he no longer has the freedom to provide news magazines for his journalism and audiences. Correspondent Scott Pelley took a rare step to detail the drama with the audience’s cameras and told them Paramount has begun to see staff as an undue influence on the “60 Minutes” editorial process.

What is clear is: there is no "60 minutes" segment. But Paramount did install part of it, partly by Redstone’s command, a new layer of checks and balances in the form of a team led by former CBS News President Susan Zirinsky. Zirinsky's mission is to monitor all work on CBS news, especially after reports on "60 Minutes" and "CBS Mornings", attitudes related to attitudes surrounding the conflict around Gaza have sparked criticism from advocates.

According to people familiar with the matter, Redstone had a conversation with a variety of the most important executives, including George Cheeks, the co-CEO of Paramount, who oversees the CBS business, about some "60 Minutes" story. Redstone asked if the story that might anger Trump was correct and balanced, and asked multiple stories that might run the same night. Two other people familiar with the editorial process of the "60 Minutes" said Zilinsky and his team's task was to study stories related to the Middle East and politics.

Redstone has never issued any orders about stories related to Trump’s policies, noting that the show has been covered throughout the season. At this point, the man added that with the current TV season painting, there is no reason to postpone any story on the show, as any acquisition by Skydance is unlikely to be completed within that time frame.

This is perhaps the content of Aaron Sorkin TV series, like "News Room" or "Studio 60 on Sunset Strip," where the core people of the legendary media property have to fight the executives running the platform, who brought content to millions of dollars. Paramount’s pending Skydance Pact and Trump lawsuits have forced Redstone to take the impossible choice: On the one hand, if Paramount settles with Trump, she has the potential to damage the image of the respected news media; on the other hand, if the deal is not completed, the health of the company that conveys the show to the audience can be dangerous.

At the end of "The Godfather II," Michael Corleone is haunted by the choices he makes and recalls simpler times. She knew that she knew whether Redstone was tortured the same way. As for the current moment in the media department, it will only get more complicated.

- Todd Spangler contributes to this story