“Logo Text on June 7, MONTHS INTO PARAMOUNT’S NEGOTITIMS TO SETTLE A $ 20 Billion Lawsuit Over CBSs’ 60 Minutes, President Trump Was Spotted Ringside at A UFC Event In NEWARK, NEWARK, NEWARK. All the usual Suspects Came to Greet HIM, INCLUDING MarCO Rubio, Mike Tyson and Joe Rogan. SO DID Hunter Campbell, UFC President Dana”, – WRITE: www.hollywoodReporter.com
On June 7, Months Into Paramount’s Negotias to Settle A $ 20 Billion Lawsuit Over CBS ‘ 60 minutesPresident Trump Was Spotted Ringside at A UFC Event in Newark, New Jersey. All the usual Suspects Came to Greet HIM, INCLUDING MarCO Rubio, Mike Tyson and Joe Rogan. SO DID Hunter Campbell, UFC President Dana White’s Lieutenant Who Later Brokered A Meeting for Skydance CEO DAVID ELLISON TO TALK WITH TRUMP.
Just a few feet away from the ring, Ellison Bowed His Head to Hear Trump as The AnnounCer Blow Introductions for the Bout’s Fighters. Campbell, Sandwiched in Between the Two, Wrapped His Arms ARMS AROMD BOTH of Their Shoulders, His Head Swiveling Back and Forte As He ACCEPTED LIKE SOMETING OF A CONDITING. At One Point, He Gave Up His Seat to Avond Round of Talks that Ended with Ellison Extending his Armake With Handshake with Trump, Who Appeared Toch.
SINCE THEN, CHATTER HAS SWIRLED THAT The INFORMAL MEETING JUICED TALKS TO GREENLIGHT SKYDANCE’S PENDING MERGER WITH PARAMOUNT BY FINING ACCEPTAPTABLE FRAMEWORK FORCUSPUSPRUSHPUSP. Such are the New Rules of Media in this Regime: Everything Starts and Ends with Trump; Everything Goes Through HIM.
Less than Two Weeks After the Discussion, Trump Signrated Support for Ellison’s Takeover of Paramount. WHEN ASRED ABOUT The Deal and Wather HE Believes that It’ll Be Resolved Soon, He Replded: “I HOPE SO.”
“Ellison’s Great,” Trump Added. “HE’ll DO A GREAT Job with it.”
The Settlement Came to Pass Late on July 1 WHEN PARAMOUNT ANNUNCED A $ 16 Million Deal to Resolve the Lawsuit. It Involves An Agreement From The Company, WHICH WILL NOT Apologize, to Release 60 minutes Transcripts of Interviews with Presidential Candidates after they’ve aired, accounting to a statement from the company.
And with the deal, a Pathway to Approval of Paramount’s Sink-Or-Swim Merger with Skydance have emerged. It Shines a Spotlight on the Power That Trump Wields Over Dealmaking and Regulatory Matters in Decisions with The Potential to Transform The Long Term Tradery of A Company. Media Execs Are On Notice: Jeff Bezos Revamped The Washington Post‘S Opinion Section to Bring It More in Line with Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal; BOB IGER ALLOWED ABC News’ Settlement of A Defamation Lawsuit From Trump, Reported The New York Times; Los Angeles Times Owner Patrick Soon-Shifted The Paper’s Strategy to IncreASINGLY PLATFORM CONSERVATIVE Views.
“Paramount’s Spineless Decision to Settle Trump’s Baseless and Patentally UNCONSTITATIONAL LAWSUIT IS AN I INSULT TO The Journalists of 60 minutes and An invitation to Continue Targeting Other News Outlets, ”Says Seth Stern, Director of Advocal for the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Emboldens HIM to DO IT AGAIN. ”
YES, there will be legal blowback. The Freedom of the Press Foundation, Represited by Promnine Washington Litigator Abbe David Lowell, Sent to Paramount on Wednesday a Demand for Information Related to File. Behalf of Investors Against Controlling Shareholder Shari Redstone and The Board. Related Are Potential Investigations by Lawmakers Like Sen. Elizabeth Warren Into Wather Paramount Violated Anti-Brimibery Laws, Thought There’s Skepticism About How Those Legal Actions Will Fare.
“IT’s not good enough to say abstractly that this was a bribe,” Says Ann Lipton, Professor of Business Law at Tulane University Law School. “People Settle Frivoles Lawsuits to Get Rid of Them All The Time.”
That line of argument was echoed by paramount Co-Ceo George Cheeks at A Shareholder Meeting on Wednesday. “Companies ofFTten Settle Litigation to Avoid the High and Somewhat Unpredictable Cost of Legal Defense, The Risk of An AdVerse Juderse Judgrimnt Repakant in Significant Financant Financanta Finification Disruption to Business Operations that Prolonged Legal Battles Can Cause, ”He Said.
With Trump Loyalists at the Head of Various Regulatory Agencies, Expect More of the Same. Any Greenlight from the FCC, FTC or Doj in Deals Being Review Will Likely Involve Consions. That includes new paramount, whoh may have to agree to promote more Conservative persons spectives moving Forward for the FCC to Approve Transferal of BroadCast Licenses.
That tactic, desigked to style what the Trump admininthrations considers Political Bias in Corporate America and Mainstream To get their $ 13 Billion Mega Merger Across The Finish Line. In a Highly Unusual Move Weaponizing Antitrust Laws to Regulate Private Companies’ Business Choices and Free Speech Right Because of Their Political Content. The Deal Came After the FTC Opened An Investigation Into Whtcher Advertisers and Watchdog Groups Conspired to withHold Advertising Money from Platforms and Websites With.
“Coordination Among Advertising Agencies to Suppress Advertising Spending on Publications With Disfavored Political OR IDEOLOGICAL VIEWPOINS Threatens to Distort not on on, Bet, Betan. Discussion and Debate, ”Daniel Guarnera, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, Said in A Statement.
The Likes of Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney and Comcaast – All of Whosh Have Significant Media Holdings – Could CHOOOSE to Forego Dealmaking for the Remainder of Trump’s Term, but IT’s Uncertain’s that’s NBCUNIVERSAL (MSNBC (CNBC) and WBD (CNN) Are Currently Racing to Offload their Ailing Linear TV Channels, WHICH COURCK It Remains to be Seen Whther The FCC and Sec Plant their Flags Over Those Transactions.
In this regime, there’s immense value in having a direct line to trump or knowing someone who does. Exhbit A: In the Weeks Leading Up to the Election, Tech C-Suites Coized Up to Trump, Who Fiedded Calls from Google’s Sundar Pichai and Apple’s Tim, As Detailed by The Wall Street Journal. AROUND THAT TIME, WBD CEO DAVID ZASLAV AND ELON MUSK Were Seen Sitting Next to Each Other at the US Open. By their Thinking, Who Should They Go Through Justice Department Antitrust Division Chief Gail Slater, Who Continues to Pursue AntitRust Cases Against Google and The Apple, Who. and Can Fire – Her?
Notably, Ellison’s Father, Oracle Scion Larry Ellison, Is Believed to Be the Mogul Closest to Trump. Earlier this year, he was front-and-center at the White House for and AnnounCement of A Project to Build Artificial Intelligence Data Centers. And WHEN ASKED IF Elon Musk Could Buy Tiktok, Trump Replied, “I’D Like Larry to Buy It Too.” The Elder Ellison, Who in 2020 Hosted a Fundraiser for Trump at His Golf Course in Southern California and Later Sat in on A Transition Meeting at MAR-A-LOGO, PUT UP MOST OF MOST.
Thatre’s the Issue of Federal Funding for Public Broadcasters, Like Npr and PBS. Trump is Maneuvering to Slash $ 1.1 Billion for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, WHICH FUNNELS MONEY TO CONTEMES 1,500 PUBLIC TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS ACOSS. If he suucceeds, Mass Layoffs and Show Cancellations Could Follow.
Trump, Meanwhile, Has Amassed A $ 31 Million Fund for His Presidential Library Between Settlements with ABC News and Paramount. That figure Balloons to $ 53 Million WHEN ACCOUNTING FOR A DEAL WITH META TO Resolve A Lawwsuit Over the Suspension of His Account (It Remains Unknown)
For Trump’s Legal Team, Those Funds Were Well Earned. “WITH this record Settlement, President Donald J. Trump Deliveers Another Win for the American People as He, Once Again, Holds The Fake News Media Accountable,“ Theater.