As the moguls of entertainment and media gather in Sun Valley to talk about dealmaking — the merging and the acquisitioning of the declining media business —  no doubt the gossip of the day will be about Shari Redstone. 

Not about how she betrayed the bedrock principles of media ownership in settling with the Trump administration over a specious lawsuit involving “60 Minutes.” True, a mountain of editorials, tweets and official statements from non-profits and politicians are excoriating her for weakening the First Amendment and empowering a presidential bully. 

But that’s not the conversation that’s happening privately on the Upper East side of New York or in the wealthy enclave of LA’s Beverly Park where her father Sumner once lived. 

In those circles they are saying that she was just managing an unfortunate set of circumstances. That the non-executive chairwoman and controlling shareholder of Paramount Global — forced to swallow her dignity and write a $16 million check — was a treacherous settlement hurdle in order to win FCC approval for the sale of Paramount Global to Skydance Media, backed by another billionaire Larry Ellison. 

They’re saying that because they all know it could happen to them next. She did what needed to be done, they argue.

It isn’t only Barry Diller who believes that. But, in typical fashion, he said the quiet part out loud. He told Maureen Dowd it’s understandable to “bend the knee if there’s a guillotine at your head.”

And the rest of those in journalism who will be the target of his next nonsense, multi-billion-dollar lawsuit — well, not her problem. 

This is a reality other billionaires and centi-millionaires understand. “She really doesn’t have a choice,” one media honcho said to me recently at a dinner party, more “poor Shari” in tone than “what the hell?” I’ve now heard this repeated enough to know it’s the wagons of the wealthy being circled. 

But having covered this transaction for a year and seen all the signals indicating that a “deal” would be required, this fight was over before it began.

Unlucky, she was backed into a corner. About two years ago she made the agonizing decision to sell the company her father bought, built, split, merged and grew into the Viacom powerhouse as the decline of legacy entertainment companies built on cable and broadcast assets became inexorable.

Redstone dithered for months over making a deal as the share price dropped. Shareholders were grumbling. Her executives were told to institute deep cuts, even as their own future job stability looked unlikely. 

And then, fatefully, came the “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Harris, a fairly straightforward interview which Trump claimed was fraudulently edited to hurt his election chances. Lawyers near-uniformly said this was nonsense. 

What did it matter? The lawsuit was leverage. 

Privately, Redstone believes that the storm will pass, that CBS News will survive and that too much is being made of the matter. It’s not that she doesn’t care, but is it really so irredeemable, one individual close to her has told me.

An individual close to the network said that the fact that there was no apology with the settlement made it a win. Corporations settle lawsuits all the time, this individual said. 

Still, in May, all seven correspondents from “60 Minutes” pleaded with Paramount to “put up a fierce and unrelenting fight” against the $20 billion lawsuit.

“60 Minutes” (CBS)

Now those who toil in the trenches of media, even such celebrities as “60 Minutes” staple Lesley Stahl, cannot do much but complain (she did) or quit (the head of CBS News Wendy McMahon left last month over this.)

The notion that Redstone take a stand — as the AP has done in suing for access to the Oval Office, as the Times did in standing by its reporting on the settlement talks last week despite yet another Trump threat — does not enter the conversation. After all, the magnates argue, the Walt Disney Company did what was necessary in settling its own Trump lawsuit against ABC over a George Stephanopulos interview for $15 million. 

Now at least we have a market price for media companies buying off Trump: average cost $15-$16 mill. 

Redstone is not on the guest list for the annual Allen & Co retreat this year, an event she rarely misses.

But if she does show up, she’ll be among friends, the billionaires who understand the tough choices required of the poor little media moguls in the age of Trump.