Billionaire Larry Ellison, whose company Paramount Skydance is considering acquiring the parent company of CNN, reportedly discussed firing anchors at the network with the Trump administration.
The Guardian reported Thursday that senior White House officials talked about removing news anchors whom President Donald Trump doesn’t like, if Paramount Skydance is successful in its deal to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery. Ellison’s son currently runs Paramount Skydance, of which Ellison is the largest shareholder.
Larry Ellison is seen during a visit to Donald Trump’s White House in February.
CNN anchors Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar have reportedly been singled out, likely because both have done factual reporting on Trump, something that he has often complained about as “fake news.”
For instance, Burnett has reported on her program “Out Front” on the ways in which Trump and other Republicans have minimized the effect that tariffs have had on U.S. consumers. While Trump and company have argued that few costs have been passed on, that is simply not true.
Similarly, Keilar has reported on how Trump has spent much of his political career doling out vague promises of policy proposals to come—like health care—while failing to deliver anything concrete.
It was Paramount that paid off Trump with a $16 million settlement over a lawsuit that multiple legal experts said was without merit. Soon after, the administration approved Paramount’s merger with Skydance.
CBS News, which is owned by Paramount, followed up the payoff by installing conservative activist Bari Weiss as its editor-in-chief. Evidence of a rightward shift in CBS appeared during a recent interview on “60 Minutes” with Trump, who mocked the network for paying him off—a moment that CBS chose not to air.
Related | Trump's war on the media goes global
The possible CNN firings and CBS’ actions are part of a trend in the media: Wealthy conservatives are acquiring news outlets and bending their coverage in favor of Trump. Perhaps the most obvious instance is at the Washington Post, where billionaire owner Jeff Bezos has moved coverage to the right, losing multiple staff as a result.
In March, Trump hailed Bezos for doing a “real job” at the Post in perverting its coverage. Now, it looks like it’s CNN’s turn.
