Fear at CNN: Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar in Peril as Ellison, White House ‘Discuss Paramount Takeover, Firing Disliked Stars’

A shocking report is “ricochet[ing] through the halls” of CNN that the world’s second-richest man, Larry Ellison, is in conversations with the White House about acquiring CNN’s parent company and terminating liberal news stars such as Erin Burnett and Briana Keilar. CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, is for sale, and three major suitors Paramount, which is owned by the Ellison family, Comcast, and Netflix have all submitted bids. Of the three suitors, only Paramount wants to acquire WBD’s cable networks, including CNN. Comcast and Netflix only want WBD’s studio and streaming businesses. Now, a new report says that the world’s second-richest man and Trump supporter, Larry Ellison, whose son David Ellison runs Skydance, has reportedly had several conversations with White House officials. On Thursday, the Guardian reported that Mr. Ellison “engaged in a dialogue about possibly axing some of the CNN hosts whom Donald Trump is said to loathe.” Those hosts included Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar. Mr. Ellison also reportedly floated some names to replace the two female CNN hosts and the idea of airing CBS’s “60 Minutes” on CNN. CNN declined to comment. The White House did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. Larry Ellison does not have an official role in Skydance, though he holds an ownership stake in the company, and his fortune bankrolled his son’s acquisition of Paramount. In June, Puck’s Dylan Byers reported that Larry Ellison had multiple private meetings with Mr. Trump in the White House as the Federal Communications Commission was evaluating Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount. Those meetings fueled speculation that Mr. Ellison discussed the Skydance deal with the president in an effort to grease the wheels of the FCC’s approval process. The new report about Mr. Ellison discussing firing anti-Trump CNN hosts has sparked backlash. The Freedom of the Press Foundation posted on X, “So we went from feigned outrage about allegedly biased public media to the president making deals with centibillionaire friends to make corporate media more biased. Got it.” Another user wrote, “He is a cancer on America.” A left-wing advocate, Sterling Holmes, wrote on X, “Definitely a major first amendment violation.” A far-left media reporter, Oliver Darcy, wrote in his Status newsletter that the report “ricocheted throughout the halls of Hudson Yards on Thursday, raising the prospect that an Ellison takeover of CNN’s parent would include editorial concessions to please the Trump administration.” The report comes amid speculation about the future of WBD and whether Skydance or another company will buy it. Executives at WBD originally planned to spin off its lucrative streaming and studio business into a “Good Co.” and its struggling cable business into another company, “Bad Co.” Netflix and Comcast, which owns NBC News, have submitted bids, but are believed to only be looking to buy the streaming and studio portion of WBD. By contrast, Skydance is seen as having somewhat of the upper hand as it is seeking to acquire all of WBD. Skydance is also seen as the preferred buyer by the Trump Administration, which would likely have to approve the sale of WBD. Anonymous sources have leaked to news outlets that the Trump Administration favors the Ellisons. When Skydance took over Paramount, Mr. Ellison pledged to clean up its left-wing bias and made written commitments to fair journalism and eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. Paramount hired Kenneth Weinstein, a former president of a right-leaning think tank, the Hudson Institute, to serve as an ombudsman to evaluate complaints of bias. Paramount also installed a pro-Israel, anti-woke editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss. The chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, told National Review last week, “When CBS’s transaction came before the FCC, we put some conditions in place where they agreed to return to more fact-based, unbiased reporting.” “And I’m pleased that they are living up to that standard,” he said. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump said during a recent interview with “60 Minutes” that he believes that “one of the best things to happen is this show and new ownership, CBS and new ownership.” “I think it’s the greatest thing that’s happened in a long time to a free and open and good press,” he said. While Mr. Trump has glowing words for the Ellisons, media insiders expect that Comcast faces an uphill battle if it wants to acquire a portion of WBD. A veteran media reporter, Matthew Belloni, noted that Mr. Trump “hates” Comcast because of its association with MSNBC, which is now known as MS NOW and has been severed from Comcast. “The problem they have is the Trump stuff. Trump hates [Comcast]. He blames them for MSNBC, even though that’s being spun off. He’s investigating their DEI policies,” Mr. Belloni said in an episode of his podcast, “The Town,” last month. Mr. Trump has also routinely criticized the CEO of Comcast, Brian Roberts. “Comcast, which also has the ailing network known as NBC, is trying to stay away from lawsuits by disassociating NBC from MSNBC, but it won’t work,” the president said on Truth Social in April. “Comcast, the owner of both, and it’s [sic] Chairman, Brian Roberts, are a disgrace to the integrity of Broadcasting!!!” In February, he labeled Mr. Roberts a “lowlife” and the CEO of “Concast.”.
https://www.nysun.com/article/cnn-burnett-brianna-keilar-peril-ellison-white-house-paramount-takeover-firing-disliked-stars