Colbert calls out CBS parent company pressuring '60 Minutes'

"Late Show" host Stephen Colbert called out his employer, CBS parent company Paramount Global, on Tuesday over reports that controlling shareholder Shari Redstone put pressure on "60 Minutes" to avoid critical coverage of President Donald Trump amid Trump's lawsuit against the media company.

"There are reports that the owner of this company called the president – or called the chairman of this company – and said, ‘Yeah, you’ve got to get the news to lay off any bad Trump stories.’ And the word is that that was not passed on to the news division, I'm happy to say," Colbert told his guest, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. 

He then asked the liberal anchor, "Have you been getting anything like that at MSNBC? Are there any like, 'Hey, let’s not talk so much about Trump too much over there?"

"Not at all. And that’s what leadership looks like here. Leadership is not that you don’t expect you are going to get inappropriate political pressure. Leadership is hearing that inappropriate political pressure and making sure the people who actually do the work never have to bear the cost themselves," Maddow responded.

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Maddow joined Colbert after returning to host her MSNBC program nightly for Trump's first 100 days in office. She will now return to doing her show once a week on Mondays, as MSNBC host Jen Psaki will take the 9 PM slot Tuesday through Friday.

"We're good at MSNBC," Maddow continued. 

Colbert referenced the Paramount lawsuit again, asking, "You guys aren't being sued for $20 billion?"

Trump is seeking $20 billion from CBS News and its parent company in a high-stakes lawsuit for what he alleged was election interference in how the network edited its interview with Harris in the days leading up to the presidential election.

As the two sides have entered mediation in hopes of reaching a settlement, many legal and journalism professionals have suggested the lawsuit is without merit and would likely not succeed if Redstone didn’t want to settle the suit ahead of a planned merger of Paramount and Skydance Media.

It is widely believed that Redstone hopes to prevent potential retribution by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which has the authority to halt the transaction.

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Last month, "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley discussed the shock resignation of CBS News executive Bill Owens on-air, essentially confirming reports that Paramount Global wanted to influence the program.

"Our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger," Pelley said. "The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways. None of our stories have been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism required."

Owens resigned in April, citing a lack of sufficient independence to run the program how he wanted.

"Over the past months, it has also become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it," he wrote in a memo to staff obtained by Fox News Digital. "To make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience. So, having defended this show — and what we stand for — from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward."

Fox News' Brian Flood and David Rutz contributed to this report.