Paramount CEO David Ellison desperately wants all of Warner Bros. Discovery — and he’s reportedly willing to upend CNN if it means securing the Trump administration’s approval.
Ellison told multiple Trump administration officials he would demand changes to CNN if he acquired WBD’s assets, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The move is meant to appease CNN’s most vocal critic, President Donald Trump, who has told people he wants new owners for the cable news network and changes to its programming schedule.
The report follows multiple indications that CNN would face a revamp if it falls into the Ellisons’ hands. Oracle co-founder and top Paramount investor Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father, spoke to a White House official about axing hosts Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar should Paramount purchase WBD, according to the Guardian.
The White House and Paramount did not respond to immediate requests for comment. CNN declined to comment.
Ellison on Monday laid out some of his vision for the network if Paramount succeeds in its hostile takeover bid of WBD. He told CNBC’s David Faber that he sought to build “a scaled news service that is basically, fundamentally, in the trust business,” mirroring his vision for the Bari Weiss-led CBS News.
When Faber asked if Ellison thought Trump “embraced” the idea of him owning CNN, Ellison demurred.
“We’ve had great conversations with the president about this,” Ellison said. “I don’t want to speak for him in any way, shape or form.”
Trump seemed skeptical of the Ellisons on Monday, telling reporters that none of WBD’s bidders were “particularly great friends of mine” and, in a Truth Social posts, lashing out at Paramount for airing a “60 Minutes” interview with enemy Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
“THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP, who just paid me millions of Dollars for FAKE REPORTING about your favorite President, ME!” he wrote, referencing the $16 million settlement Paramount paid him in July in a lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” episode.
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