TGIF! Oliver Darcy here at 9:53pm ET on Friday, July 29. Here's the latest on Kate Bedingfield, Bill Barr, Elon Musk, Julie Pace, Charles Barkley, Will Smith, and more... Alex Jones' legal antics |
Alex Jones is getting desperate. On Friday, his main company, Free Speech Systems, which operates the right-wing conspiracy outlet Infowars, filed for bankruptcy protection. And in a bizarre legal twist, Jones filed a separate complaint against Free Speech Systems — again, his own company — in Connecticut court. The legal moves should not affect the trial underway in Texas to determine how much in damages Jones will have to pay the families of two Sandy Hook victims who won a default judgement against him. That's according to Jones' lawyer, Federico Andino Reynal, who made the disclosure about the bankruptcy filing at the end of court proceedings on Friday. The judge overseeing the trial said proceedings in the case will continue on Monday, with final witnesses expected to be called to the stand. But the legal moves will almost certainly delay a separate trial in Connecticut, where jury selection was set to begin on Monday. That is a case which will determine how much Jones will have to pay a set of different families who also won a default judgement against him. "Just two days before jury selection is due to begin in Connecticut, Mr. Jones has once again fled like a coward to bankruptcy court in a transparent attempt to delay facing the families that he has spent years hurting," Christopher Mattei, an attorney who represents some of the Sandy Hook families in Connecticut, told me in a statement. "These families have an endless well of patience and remain determined to hold Mr. Jones accountable in a Connecticut court." Here's my full story... An old trick This is not the first time a company tied to Jones has filed for bankruptcy protection in an apparent bid to delay proceedings. Three smaller companies tied to Jones declared bankruptcy earlier this year, briefly pausing the cases in both Texas and Connecticut. But the families suing Jones dropped the three smaller companies from their lawsuits so that the cases could move forward against Jones and Free Speech Systems. Shortly after, the three companies exited bankruptcy protection. Now Jones, seemingly getting desperate as the legal walls close in on him, is seeking to put his main company in bankruptcy protection to delay some action against him. Doing so is also giving us new insight into his opaque business... Millions in profit, but...
The bankruptcy filing on Friday said that Free Speech Systems made $13.1 million in gross profit in 2021. And in the first five months of 2022, the filing said, the company brought in $9.3 million in gross profit. But it also indicated that Free Speech Systems had $14.3 million in total liabilities and equity as of May 31, 2022...
Meanwhile: Infowars attacks judge overseeing case As Jones deploys legal maneuvers, his media company is going on the offensive in the information war. Over the last few days, Infowars has been viciously attacking Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, who is overseeing the Texas trial. One video produced by Infowars and featured on its homepage Friday attacked Gamble's prior work for Child Protective Services by claiming the agency had been "exposed" for "working for pedophiles." In an article published by InfoWars, Gamble was accused of writing "subversive" CPS material for parents. The implications are quite clear. It's one thing, of course, to accuse Gamble of being unfair in the courtroom (which Infowars has done), but it's another to attack her character in such dark terms... |
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-- The stories across the front pages of Kentucky's Louisville Courier-Journal and Lexington Herald Leader home pages are absolutely heartbreaking... -- "Getting a reliable number of the people who are missing or were killed has been difficult due to the damaged infrastructure..." (CNN) -- Escalating rhetoric: A Chinese state-media commentator said if Nancy Pelosi attempts to visit Taiwan with fighter jet escorts during her Asia trip, it constitutes an "invasion" and the Chinese military "has the right" to shoot her plane down... (Politico) -- In his forthcoming book, Jared Kushner details his heated fights with Steve Bannon and says the MAGA media star has "a black belt in the dark arts of media manipulation..." (CNN) -- White House comms director Kate Bedingfield "is staying on in her role, a surprise decision coming after the White House announced she would be leaving..." (CNN) |
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| >> Puck's Dylan Byers writes about WSJ's scoop about the alleged affair between Elon Musk and Sergey Brin's wife Nicole Shanahan: It "set off a series of cascading questions about the article of journalism, itself: What counts as an affair? What is an 'alleged affair'? And then: How could the reporters possibly know? And last but not least: Why did the Journal, the classy establishment business bible, publish this very personal piece in the first place?" >> CNN's Joan Biskupic details how the leak of the Roe v. Wade draft opinion made Chief Justice John Roberts' attempt to convince his conservative colleagues not to overturn the decision "all but impossible..." >> Don't miss this profile on Ron DeSantis spokesperson Christina Pushaw by WaPo's Paul Farhi... >> Alice Markham-Cantor writes for Curbed about how it has become "a lot harder than you'd expect" to purchase a copy of The New York Times in New York City... >> WaPo's Elahe Izadi outlines "how local journalists proved a 10-year-old's abortion wasn't a hoax..." >> The New Yorker's Kyle Chayka writes about about "the age of algorithmic anxiety:" Interacting online today "means being besieged by system-generated recommendations. Do we want what the machines tell us we want?" >> Bloomberg's Norah Mulinda and Amina Niasse detail how Gen Z is using TikTok like Google, "upsetting the old internet order..." |
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Brian's weekend reads/listens BY BRIAN STELTER: >> "Weather forecasters faced unprecedented levels of trolling during this month's extreme heat in the UK," the BBC's Merlyn Thomas reports. "Most of the abuse" stemmed from the linkage between the heatwave and climate change... >> The NYT's John Koblin sums up the dispute over Paul Pringle's new book "Bad City:" It has "offered a rare view into the often messy business of putting together an investigative article..." >> A must-read by Kellen Browning and Kashmir Hill: Being a "high-profile streamer on Twitch" increasingly means becoming a victim of "harassment and stalking..." >> Marvel Studios "is in a bit of a slump," the WSJ's Robbie Whelan says, before exploring the reasons why... >> Variety's Jem Aswsad goes "inside the multi-billion dollar battle royale over music-streaming royalties..." >> THR's Alex Weprin writes: "For the major U.S. sports leagues, changing viewer habits and lucrative TV deals are giving way to a happy dilemma: Do they forge a direct relationship with fans? Or do they lean on their media partners to help them win the streaming wars? Increasingly, the answer seems to be both..." >> On the Great Minds podcast, The Ankler CEO and co-founder Janice Min shared stats about her startup's growth: "As of this week we have officially tripled our subscription revenue and doubled our entire subscription base. So it's grown really nicely. And we're on track for low seven figures in sponsorship revenue for the year..." >> Gizmodo's Chris Stokel-Walker describes leaked documents that detail TikTok's attempts to "downplay the China association..." >> Speaking of TikTok and China, Emily Baker-White discussed ByteDance, TikTok's global reach, and content challenges on this week's "RS" podcast... >> And on Fridays I always like to browse CNN's week in photos, which begins with this recent image from California... |
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| Streaming this weekend... BY BRIAN LOWRY: >> A lot of "meh" in this weekend's streaming menu: Amazon's "Paper Girls" feels conspicuously like a "Stranger Things" wannabe, adapting a graphic novel about time-traveling kids who, yes, have newspaper-delivery routes in the '80s; and Netflix's "Uncoupled," starring Neil Patrick Harris in a show from original "Sex and the City" producer Darren Star, focuses on a different sex in the same city... >> A somewhat better bet: Hulu's "Not Okay," a be-careful-what-you-wish-for dark comedy about the perils of sudden Internet fame, which offers a pretty smart look at how quick we are to turn people into heroes, and just as quickly tear them down... |
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| The LIV Golf event at Bedminster continues amid protests... Lollapalooza continues all weekend in Chicago... Shark Week comes to an end... Jake Tapper's guests on "State of the Union" include Sen. Pat Toomey, who was strongly criticized by Jon Stewart this week, and Sen. Joe Manchin... Season three of "City on a Hill" premieres Sunday at 10pm on Showtime... |
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Saturday is Whistleblower Appreciation Day Whistleblower Appreciation Day falls on a Saturday this year, so some chose to mark the occasion on Friday. At the State Department, for instance, Deputy Secretary of State Brian McKeon sent a note I obtained to colleagues praising those who do come forward to report internal wrongdoing. He even linked to the page on the State Department's website explaining how employees can file a report. It's quite the contrast to how the former administration dealt with whistleblowers... |
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This Sunday on "Reliable Sources" BY BRIAN STELTER:
I'll be joined by Nobel Laureate in economics Paul Krugman – whose recent columns include "How Goes the War on Inflation?" and "The Dystopian Myths of Red America" – plus GOP strategist Liz Mair, Puck correspondent Tara Palmeri, and our very own Oliver Darcy. Also: Rachel Leingang, Lydia X.Z. Brown, and Katherine Stewart, all of whom have fascinating stories to share. See you Sunday at 11am ET on CNN... |
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-- "The recession debate is so intense that Wikipedia has blocked new users from editing its recession page because people keep changing the definition," Christine Mui writes... (Forbes) -- "Enough with the 'is this a recession?' blather," Megan McArdle writes: "You can't really blame the Biden administration for trying to put a positive spin on things. But the rest of us — and Democrats especially — would be better off if the left spent less time looking for better phrasing and more time finding solutions..." (WaPo) -- Top news media execs and hundreds of reporters convened in L.A. for the Asian American Journalists Association's convention this week. The event concludes on Saturday... (KTLA) |
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FIRST ON CNN:
Smartmatic subpoenas Barr Smartmatic has subpoenaed Bill Barr in its $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox News. The subpoena seeks by September 16 any communication Barr had with Fox News employees about the 2020 election, Trump campaign, or Smartmatic after January 1, 2020. The subpoena also requires Barr to produce similar communication he may have had with Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, and Rudy Giuliani. And finally, the subpoena demands any documents or communication Barr provided to the House committee investigating the 1/6 attack. Reps for Smartmatic and Barr did not respond to requests for comment. But the information from Barr, who publicly contradicted Trump's claims of voter fraud, could further help Smartmatic prove in court that Fox News knew it was broadcasting false information about the company and continued to do so anyway. Fox has vigorously denied defaming Smartmatic. Here's my full story... |
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Outrage in Alabama "Alabama prison officials examined female reporters' clothing and tried to block a female reporter with AL.com from witnessing Thursday night's execution of a death-row inmate, saying her skirt and shoes violated a prison dress code," AL.com's Kent Faulk reported Friday. Faulk reported that AL.com sent a letter to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and AG Steve Marshall. Faulk also reported that AP exec editor Julie Pace wrote Ivey, saying that an AP female reporter was subject to a clothing inspection as well. Pace demanded an investigation and action to "ensure such behavior is not tolerated and does not occur again." Here's Faulk's full story... |
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Barkley abandons LIV Golf talks Basketball legend Charles Barkley won't join LIV Golf as a broadcaster after all. After publicly expressing a significant amount of interest over the idea of cashing in and jumping to the Saudi-backed company, Barkley said that he has decided to remain at TNT (full disclosure: TNT and CNN are both owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). In an interview with the NY Post's Andrew Marchand, Barkley thanked LIV for showing interest in hiring him. "I wish those guys great success and nothing but the best," Barkley told The Post. "But, in my best interest, and being fair to Turner — because Turner and basketball have given me every single thing in my life. It is best for me to move on and I'm staying with Turner for the rest of my TV career." |
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FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE |
-- Put it on your calendar: The Elon Musk v. Twitter trial will start October 17, a Delaware judge ruled Friday... (CNN) -- Musk has "formally responded" to Twitter's suit, but the filing was "made confidentially and isn't viewable by the public..." (WSJ) -- Meta has "reiterated its warning that it may have no choice but to pull its popular Facebook and Instagram services from the European Union if a new transatlantic data transfer pact doesn't materialize," Stephanie Bodoni reports... (Bloomberg) -- Facebook "approved pro-genocide ads in Kenya after claiming to foster 'safe and secure' elections," Dell Cameron reports... (Gizmodo) -- As a result of such ads, Kenya has given Facebook seven days "to tackle hate speech and incitement on the platform relating to next month's election" or be suspended in the country, Duncan Miriri reports... (Reuters) -- Garrett Graff: "Serious question: How many genocides has Facebook been linked to around the world now? I've lost count, but anything more than zero seems … not great..." (Twitter) |
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Friday's earnings news >> Shares in Roku fell 23% Friday "after the streaming service announced significantly slower growth in Q2, with additional slowdowns expected in the foreseeable future..." (The Streamable) >> "Charter Communications is the latest operator to report video subscriber losses in the second quarter, with one analyst saying industry signs point to a significant speed up in cord-cutting during the period..." (Fierce Video) >> Charter is emphasizing wireless: "During its earnings call on Friday morning, Charter CEO Tom Rutledge said Charter's got plenty of room to grow, and its wireless service is the engine driving that growth..." (LightReading) |
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| Antenna Group to buy Vice? "The Greek broadcaster Antenna is exploring an acquisition of Vice Media," NYT's Ben Mullin and Lauren Hirsch scooped Friday, noting that a deal "would consummate a longstanding business relationship between the two companies." Per the NYT duo, Antenna is not the only potential company to express interest in Vice and "it is not assured that Antenna will buy Vice, nor that there will be a deal at all." Over the past several months, there have been a number of reports suggesting Vice is interested in selling all or part of its business. More from Mullin and Hirsch here... |
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NBC News says farewell to Williams NBC News on Friday bid a final adieu to legendary justice correspondent Pete Williams. The "Today" show featured a montage of clips showing Williams over his nearly three-decade long run at NBC (see above), coupled with clips of prominent NBC anchors praising Williams' skills as a journalist. Lester Holt honored him on the "Nightly News" as well, calling Williams "our compass." For his part, Williams said that being a member of NBC had been "a dream come true." And he told Holt, "I wish people who have doubts about journalism could see all the work and care that goes into the stories... the layers of review, the efforts to get it right." |
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| FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR |
-- WaPo Opinions is launching a new newsletter from Karen Attiah... (WaPo) -- Gilbert Cruz is NYT's next Books editor... (NYT) -- Longtime Snopes writer Dan Evon is joining The News Literacy Project... (Twitter) -- NBCU has hired Corie Henson as EVP of unscripted content... (Variety) -- Paramount has named Pamela Kaufman as head of its int'l business... (Deadline) |
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Smith opens up about The Slap BY LISA RESPERS FRANCE: Will Smith says he is "deeply remorseful" about slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards in March. Smith posted a video to Instagram on Friday that began with the words on screen, "It's been a minute." He then answered a series of questions about the now infamous moment. Addressing why he didn't apologize to Rock during his Oscars acceptance speech, Smith said, "I was fogged out by that point. It's all fuzzy. I've reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he's not ready to talk and when he is, he will reach out. So I will say to you Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I'm here whenever you are ready to talk." Here's my full story...
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FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE |
-- "DC League of Super-Pets" opened to $2.2 million in Thursday previews... (Deadline) -- Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese are working on yet another project together, this one a shipwreck survival tale for Apple... (THR) -- Magnolia Network has ordered three new shows and renewed three others... (Variety)
-- "To Kill a Mockingbird" won't return to Broadway... (Deadline)
-- Via Lisa Respers France: Ben Affleck may return as Batman in the "Aquaman" sequel... (CNN) |
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"Renaissance" is here Beyoncé's "Renaissance" album officially dropped Friday morning. "So much to digest, so much to dissect and so much to dance to," Lisa Respers France writes. She has all the details about the new release here. Wednesday's "Renaissance" leak "seemed to fit the throwback theme" of the album, "which throbs with the sound of dance music from across the decades," the NYT's Ben Sisario and Joe Coscarelli write. So will the leak hurt the album at all? Probably very little if at all. "Years ago, the unauthorized release of music in advance could have devastating consequences for an album," they write. "But that danger has been mitigated by the shift to streaming. And Beyoncé, like most other artists today, took advance orders for physical copies of her album, which will count on the charts as soon as they are shipped — usually the week of release. On Beyoncé's website, the four boxed sets of 'Renaissance' and its limited-edition vinyl version are sold out..." |
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The late-night "recession" BY BRIAN LOWRY: The LAT's Meredith Blake examines how retrenchment in latenight – with the end of "Desus & Mero" and Samantha Bee's show – appears to be disproportionately falling on underrepresented voices. This "last hired, first fired" dynamic is exacerbated by the fact, as Blake notes, that "women and people of color have mostly been relegated to newer platforms and lesser time slots," where it's harder to succeed. I'd only add the footnote that this also follows a period of over-eager expansion, driven by a content-hungry time and the fact that these shows are relatively inexpensive to produce... |
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LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST... Pets of the day! Reader Frederick Morsheimer emails: "Maeby celebrates her birthday. She is very playful with ribbons, bows and boxes. Maeby is a rescue kitty from the streets of Philadelphia..." |
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Thank you for reading! Email us your feedback. We'll be back on Sunday... |
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