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Tuesday, December 9, 2025 |
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Hey, good morning. Here's the latest on Jimmy Kimmel, Matt Gutman, Bari Weiss, Rachel Scott, Will Sommer, Piers Morgan, and Google's next iteration of smart glasses. But first... |
The Apprentice: WBD deal edition |
Both Netflix and Paramount are "acting like the fate of any multibillion-dollar deal is going to run through the Oval Office," and "they are likely right."
That's the lead of Damian Paletta's WSJ Politics newsletter today, conveying the political dimension of the public tug-of-war over Warner Bros. Discovery.
The analogies to "The Apprentice" write themselves, with multiple contestants jockeying for President Trump's approval. There's been a lot of new reporting in the past 24 hours about how Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Paramount CEO David Ellison have been courting the president and his inner circle, underscoring that this is as much about personality as it is about policy.
Politico's Daniel Lippman reported last night that Sarandos was back at the White House last Tuesday, days before Netflix's mega-deal to buy Warner Bros. and HBO was announced, though a Netflix rep said Sarandos didn't meet with Trump on that visit.
The NYT's Michael Grynbaum described how Ellison "was spotted in the presidential box" with Trump at the CBS-televised Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday night.
After Ellison's hostile takeover bid for WBD was announced and after Trump posted an anti-Paramount screed about "60 Minutes" on Truth Social, Trump told the press pool: "None of them are particularly great friends of mine."
But he is close with Larry Ellison, and the two men have "discussed the prospect of a Paramount acquisition," CNN's Kevin Liptak and Kristen Holmes reported. And "in the fine print of its filing with the SEC, Paramount revealed Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is involved in the company’s takeover efforts as a financial backer through his private equity firm."
Trump said he has never discussed the matter with Kushner. But it's a remarkable development. Jody Godoy's headline for Reuters: "Kushner role in bid for Warner Bros raises ethical questions, experts say."
Those questions are "about influence-peddling, political favoritism and national security risks," Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a statement that called the Paramount play for WBD a "five-alarm antitrust fire."
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CNN caught in the Trump of it all |
IMHO, every news report about the Trump factor needs to include the type of context Liptak and Holmes laid out here: "Ordinarily, antitrust decisions about major deals are made after lengthy Justice Department reviews, without explicit political interference."
Obviously, this is no ordinary time, and "Trump is making no secret that he’s planning to be part of the decision-making."
Liptak and Holmes cited a senior White House official who "said the president seems neutral when it comes to the issue, suggesting his take changes depending on whom he's last spoken to — and that he's had conversations with all the parties involved."
Now, about those conversations...
A big story by the WSJ's Joe Flint, Brian Schwartz, and Natalie Andrews has intensified concerns about CNN's status. As you surely already know, WBD is splitting into two, and CNN is set to become a part of a new company called Discovery Global, led by current leadership. But if Paramount's hostile bid is successful, Ellison and his backers would take control of CNN and all the entertainment assets.
According to the WSJ, Ellison recently "offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he'd make sweeping changes to CNN." The reporters cited "people familiar with the matter" and added, "Trump has told people close to him that he wants new ownership of CNN as well as changes to CNN programming."
This isn't the first leak of behind-the-scenes chatter about adjusting news coverage to appease Trump, and it won't be the last. And right now it's just chatter.
"As we all think about next steps," the NYT's Lauren Hirsch tweeted, a "shareholder vote over Netflix/WBD deal likely wouldn't come until at least March. Which could mean a long few months ahead of us." CNBC's Alex Sherman has more on how "complicated" this could get...
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A few related notes & quotes |
>> An intriguing leak from Trumpworld yesterday: "Some officials have grown frustrated with widespread speculation that a politicized Justice Department would play favorites for the conservative Ellison family," Semafor's Rohan Goswami and Ben Smith reported.
>> The WSJ editorial board gently mocked Ellison and Sarandos for courting Trump "like contestants on the Bachelorette." The editorial is titled "Let Warner’s Shareholders Decide."
>> New this morning from THR's Alex Weprin: "Dinners, Job Offers and Larry Ellison Zooming John Malone: Inside Paramount's Wooing of Warners."
>> In this NYT guest essay, antitrust expert Tim Wu argued that both Netflix's deal and Paramount's proposed deal are "illegal under U.S. law." He wrote, "The message to Warner Bros. Discovery should be: If you must sell, maybe try finding a buyer who is not a direct competitor."
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Jimmy Kimmel re-ups with ABC |
These days, it's notable whenever a major media company ignores Trump's pressure and stands with talent. So: Disney's ABC has renewed Jimmy Kimmel's contract for another year. Or, to reframe it another way, Kimmel has decided to stick around and skewer Trump for another year.
Last night, Kimmel "wanted to share the big news of his new contract with his audience," but he "also wanted to be sure he had the attention of his most dedicated follower," Bill Carter wrote for LateNighter. So Kimmel directed his on-air announcement to Trump...
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Anderson Cooper renews with CNN |
Anderson Cooper "has signed a new contract with CNN to stay with the network," Deadline's Ted Johnson wrote yesterday.
>> "The decision by Cooper... deflates any speculation that he may jump ship to Bari Weiss' CBS News. Reports emerged in October that Weiss was interested in retaining Cooper beyond his role as a '60 Minutes' correspondent," TheWrap's Corbin Bolies wrote...
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One is official, the other is not. This morning, CBS News confirmed that Matt Gutman is joining the network as chief correspondent. "He is Weiss's first on-air hire since she took over CBS News," THR's Tony Maglio wrote.
Next: What about the "CBS Evening News" vacancy? Last night, Oliver Darcy reported at Status that Tony Dokoupil is expected to be named to the 6:30 p.m. position...
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'This is where hate and impunity lead' |
Reporters Without Borders has released its annual report on violence against journalists, this year ominously titled, "2025, a deadly year for journalists: this is where hate and impunity lead." They found that 67 media professionals have been killed since Dec. 1 of last year, and "nearly half" of those journalists were "killed in Gaza by Israeli armed forces." Additionally, they reported that 135 journalists are missing and 503 journalists are currently detained around the world, with China leading in imprisonments.
"We must be wary of false notions about reporters: no one gives their lives for journalism — it is taken from them; journalists do not just die — they are killed," Thibaut Bruttin, RSF’s director general, said in a statement. Read on...
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All the president's insults |
Trump took a swipe at yet another female reporter yesterday. When ABC's Rachel Scott asked if the president was "committing to releasing the whole video" of the follow-up strike against an alleged drug boat from Venezuela, he responded, "You are the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place. Let me just tell ya, you are an obnoxious — actually, a terrible reporter."
>> For those keeping score, that's now seven personal insults against female reporters in just under a month, Paul Farhi noted last night.
>> Nicolle Wallace's reaction on MS NOW: "We're either gonna normalize this, and usher in an era of unprecedented misogyny — or that press corps is gonna act as one and say, 'No more.'"
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Today's new nonfiction releases |
>> The arrest of the Jan. 6 pipe-bomb suspect has done nothing to quell the MAGA media fringe's conspiracy theories about the case, Will Sommer writes. (Bulwark)
>> A blunt headline from Rolling Stone's Tessa Stuart: "The war over Nick Fuentes is over. He won." Fuentes was questioned by Piers Morgan in an interview that streamed yesterday. (RS)
>> Speaking of Morgan, the broadcaster is looking to raise "tens of millions of dollars of funding from heavyweight investors as he seeks to turn 'Uncensored,' his YouTube-based venture, into a broad-based global media business," Mark Kleinman reports. (Sky News)
>> CNN alum Bianca Nobilo is launching a weekly spin-off of Morgan's show called "History Uncensored." (Variety)
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Trump confirmed yesterday that "he plans to sign an executive order preempting artificial intelligence regulations at the state level with his more hands-off federal policy," CNN’s Clare Duffy wrote.
>> "That executive order should concern every American," Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar warned in a guest essay for the NYT.
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>> Trump spoke up on Elon Musk's behalf yesterday, calling an EU fine against X "nasty." (Reuters)
>> New this morning: "Meta's shifting AI strategy is causing internal confusion," Jonathan Vanian reports. (CNBC)
>> Google "told advertising clients in recent days that it plans to bring ads to its AI chatbot Gemini," Trishla Ostwal writes. (Adweek)
>> CNN tech editor Lisa Eadicicco tried on Google's forthcoming smart glasses. She says "it almost made me forget about my phone." (CNN)
>> Glenn Beck interviewed his own AI-generated George Washington, "who just so happened to sound like Beck." (Beast)
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>> Australian prog rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard "pulled their music from Spotify in protest, and now Spotify is hosting AI knockoffs of their songs," Victor Tangermann writes. (Futurism)
>> It's tiiiiiiiiime! Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is "back to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100." (Billboard)
>> Tune in alerts: David Letterman will be on with the aforementioned Jimmy Kimmel tonight, and Taylor Swift will be on with Stephen Colbert tomorrow.
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