Overview
- Freedom of the Press Foundation and Reporters Without Borders, both Paramount Skydance shareholders, demanded internal documents that could show Larry Ellison offered favors to win approval for buying CNN’s parent.
- The letter alleges Ellison pledged to remake CNN’s lineup by removing anchors disliked by President Donald Trump, a claim the groups say could signal a corrupt exchange and a breach of fiduciary duty.
- Paramount Skydance is pursuing a roughly $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, and Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approved the proposed merger two weeks earlier.
- The concerns followed public remarks by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, who warned that recent changes at CBS under David Ellison should worry CNN staff and viewers who value editorial independence.
- At CBS, David Ellison installed Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief, drawing backlash after a 60 Minutes report was delayed; correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi called it political, while Weiss said it needed stronger sourcing before it later aired.