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Wednesday, July 26, 2023

You're more than halfway through the week. Meta beats on earnings, NBC News exposes Matt Walsh's tactics, former Twitter exec breaks silence on Elon Musk's "madhouse," a London jury acquits Kevin Spacey, and fans mourn Sinead O'Connor. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Variety in a Vice

CNN Photo Illustration/Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Variety has a mess on its hands.

One day after publishing a questionable 4,000-word story that aimed to detail the behind-the-scenes drama that has gripped CNN for the last 18 months, the Hollywood trade publication is being met with calls for it to issue corrections to the piece, if not a retraction altogether.

Former CNN chief Jeff Zucker, The Atlantic journalist Tim Alberta, and Puck Editor-In-Chief Jon Kelly have all called for the outlet to publicly correct the record. But, thus far, Variety has resisted taking any such action, outside quietly removing the widely panned Tatiana Siegel-written feature from its online homepage.

The outlet's deafening silence comes as the piece begins to fall apart in public. Alberta, who found himself sucked into Siegel's story due to his role authoring a devastating profile of former CNN boss Chris Licht, posted on-the-record responses to key assertions made in the report, refuting multiple aspects of the article that impugned his integrity.

"If [Variety] had real editorial standards this piece never, ever would have published," Alberta tweeted. "A retraction is probably in order, but I doubt they have the stomach for it."

Meanwhile, Byers, the relentless Puck scribe known for breaking news about CNN, who was unfairly maligned as a Zucker shill in Siegel's story, reported Wednesday night that the opening anecdote — which struck many observers as preposterous — was simply false.

As Siegel told it in her story, Zucker, with "tears in his eyes," ran into Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav in a Miami hotel lobby in March, where he complained about being unfairly attacked in the press by his successor Licht. But Byers, who looked into the matter, wrote: "In fact, there was no such run-in at the hotel, because the two parties connected by phone beforehand and agreed to meet privately at one of the hotel's private cabanas."

"From the opening sentence," Byers observed, "the story seemed problematic and riddled with factual inaccuracies."

The errors on the smaller details throw into question the larger story that Siegel weaved together, which portrayed Zucker, who was ousted from CNN in 2022 over an undisclosed consensual office relationship, as a bitter man singularly consumed with aspirations to purchase CNN in an act of revenge — even if it apparently meant imploring a Russian oligarch for funds to secure the necessary capital for the effort. (It goes without saying that Zucker's camp denied to Siegel that this ever happened, but she printed it anyway.)

The errors also raise serious questions about the editorial process at Variety that allowed Siegel's feature to be published, and for more than 24 hours since the article appeared online, has elicited no real response to the very real problems that have been raised about the story with the magazine's highest leadership.

As The Wrap's Natalie Korach first reported Wednesday night, Zucker's team appealed to co-editor-in-chiefs, Ramin Setoodeh and Cynthia Littleton, about Siegel's story to no avail. Zucker, who through a spokesperson has firmly denied key details that Siegel included in her piece, has been "baffled" by the claims, Korach reported.

After appeals made to Setoodeh and Littleton resulted in no apparent action, Zucker's team contacted Variety's parent company, Penske Media Corporation, with a request for a retraction. A PMC spokesperson did not immediately respond to my request for comment Wednesday evening, but the appeal has thus far not prompted any noticeable action by the company.

Separately, Byers reported that Kelly, Puck's top editor, "sent an email to the author and the editors of the Variety piece on Tuesday outlining demonstrably false claims about my reporting and seeking corrections." And Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, told me in a scathing on-the-record statement Tuesday that the prominent magazine had "on numerous occasions ... made it clear" to Variety that "they were planning to publish countless anecdotes and alleged incidents that never happened." Goldberg added that Variety "did so anyway."

Ultimately, Variety may never concede any errors. But failing to address the mounting questions threatens to leave a stain on the outlet that will not be easily removed.

THE SIDEBAR

"I absolutely love Tatiana Siegel, but this is not responsible reporting," Sharon Waxman said, noting that one "of many red flags" she saw "should have set off alarms and led to a rethink of the whole piece." (Twitter)
"Unlike the Variety piece, in which almost every line and assertion is attributed to various unnamed sources, Tim's piece was built on on-the-record reporting," Wesley Lowery noted. "Licht hung himself but now wants us to believe it was a lynching. Reporters shouldn't aid his falsification of history." (Twitter)
"What I find remarkable — dazzling even — is the sheer number of on-the-record, explicit & precise denials of 'factual' assertions made by the reporter here," journalism professor Michael Socolow commented. "I've never seen so many." (Twitter)

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

More Meta Mojo: Wall Street is loving Meta's "year of efficiency." Shares in the social media company popped nearly 7% in after-hours trading after it reported better-than-expected earnings for Q2 and issued a sunny forecast for Q3, signaling a rebound for the digital advertising market. Meta posted $32 billion in revenue, an 11% increase compared to the same period last year. Profits were at $7.79 billion, a 16% increase. "We had a good quarter," Mark Zuckerberg commented. CNN's Catherine Thorbecke has more.

🔎 Zooming in: "There's a lot to feel good about when it comes to Meta right now," Insider Intelligence analyst Debra Aho Williamson said after the earnings report. "It has been able to maintain decent growth in monthly and daily active users across both Facebook and its family of apps, and it has seen strong performance from Advantage, its AI-driven suite of ad automation tools, as well as good momentum for advertiser demand on Reels. While its competitor Snap has yet to emerge from its own advertising slump. Meta has been able to successfully turn around its business."

THE FOURTH ESTATE

IN THE INDUSTRY

The future of television news? Alex Weprin reports on a startup that envisions A.I. allowing for "personalized newscasts" in the future, with totally fictional anchors delivering the headlines to viewers. (THR)
"It's like the land of old men, and until those men get out of the way, you can't make way for younger men and women": Graydon Carter chats with Claire Atkinson about the need to make way for a new generation of leaders. (Media Mix)
The House Oversight UFO hearing generated major media interest. "I can't remember ever seeing a line this long to get a seat into a congressional hearing," commented NewsNation correspondent Joe Khalil. (Twitter)
RIP: "60 Minutes" is "mourning the loss" of longtime producer Katie Spikes: "Katie exemplified the best of 60 Minutes, in her work at CBS News for three decades, and as our beloved colleague and friend." (Twitter)

MEDIA MOVES

The WaPo named Philip Rucker as national editor. (WaPo)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/John Rudoff/Sipa USA

Matt Walsh's M.O.: It seems that Matt Walsh isn't the fearless culture warrior he portrays himself as when attempting to get subjects on camera. NBC News reporter David Ingram reported Wednesday that the anti-trans Daily Wire personality's "What is a Woman?" film used deceptive tactics to get three people to participate in on-camera interviews. Two of those people provided Ingram emails showing Walsh's team reached out with a pitch that appears anything but hostile to the LGBTQ community. "They didn't give me an indication of what it would really be about," one of the participants, Dr. Marci Bowers, told Ingram, adding that she believed the email from Walsh's team was "completely deceptive." Ingram reported that Walsh did not respond to requests for comment sent to the Daily Wire. Read the full story here.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

In a forthcoming book, Tucker Carlson claims — seemingly without evidence — that he was fired as part of Fox News' historic settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. Both Fox and Dominion have strongly denied such a deal was ever made. (Guardian)
A Fox News staffer posted antisemitic comments on TikTok, Madeline Pelts reports. The network has yet to comment on the matter. (MMFA)
Stephen Crowder held an "emergency staff meeting" on Monday and warned staffers "against speaking out about what goes on inside the company," Diana Falzone reports. The warning came after damaging leaks about Crowder were reported on last week by Falzone. (Mediaite)
Hubble Hobbled: Joe Rogan's latest conspiracy theory takes on astronomy and stems from research published by the University of Ottawa that claims the universe is 26.7 billion years, David Axe reports. (Daily Beast)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

The Musk 'Madhouse': Former Twitter executive Esther Crawford opened up on Wednesday about her time at the beleaguered social media company, describing Elon Musk as an unpredictable boss "not afraid of blowing things up" who made decisions on a whim and acted on the advice of strangers over experienced hands. She said the first few months of his takeover were "wildly crazy" and that "being at Twitter after the acquisition was like playing life at Level 10 on Hard Mode." As for what she thinks of the company, now rebranded as X, Crawford said she has "a lot of empathy for the employees who are working tirelessly behind the scenes, the advertisers who want a stable platform to sell their stuff on, and the customers who are experiencing chaotic updates." In her words, the company has "been a madhouse." It's hard to argue with that! Read Crawford's full post here.

TOO MANY TABS

Shares in Alphabet ended Wednesday ⬆️ nearly 6% and shares in Spotify ended ⬆️ more than 6% after the companies both delivered solid earnings reports. Meanwhile, shares in Snap ended ⬇️ more than 14%.
A new report from the McKinsey Global Institute shows that more women than men will likely see their jobs replaced by A.I. (WaPo)
Meta, Microsoft and Amazon are all partnering together to take on Google and Apple's duopoly on maps. (CNBC)
Separately, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI are working together to work on A.I. safety standards. (CNET)
Elon Musk's X changed its official social media handle to @X, fully shedding the Twitter mantle. The company's former handle, @Twitter, is now inactive. (TechCrunch)
To do this, Musk seized the @X handle from its owner without warning or compensation. (TechCrunch)
Good news, Threads users! Linktree is now letting people add their Threads account to their profile. (TechCrunch)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Susannah Ireland/Reuters

Spacey in the Clear: Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey was given quite the gift by a London jury to mark his 64th birthday. After a four-week trial, Spacey was found not guilty on seven charges of sexual assault. Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Spacey said he was still processing the decision. "But I would like to say that I'm enormously grateful to the jury for having taken the time to examine all of the evidence and all of the facts carefully, before they reached their decision," Spacey said. "And I am humbled by the outcome today." CNN has more here.

HOLLYWOOD HELL

"The plan is for them to call us on the phone and ask us to sit down. We're not calling them": Gene Maddaus looks at the state of the strikes and potential path forward. (Variety)
"In executive suites all over Hollywood, the conversation has turned to whether to air or shelve content," Lacey Rose and Lesley Goldberg report. (THR)
Sapna Maheshwari and Madison Malone Kircher report on how influencers have been left "sidelined and confused" by the strikes: "Despite not being in the actors' union, many content creators are passing up deals to promote films or TV shows because they don't want to be barred from the guild or face online vitriol." (NYT)
Netflix is under fire after it was revealed that the streaming giant is hiring an A.I. product manager role with a salary of up to $900,000 as the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes remain ongoing. (Deadline)
ABC's "General Hospital" has become the latest soap opera relying on temporary writers as the dual strikes continue. (Deadline)
More reality TV en route: Hulu ordered an unscripted series about Wayne Brady and his family. (The Wrap)

OFF STAGE

RIP: Iconic Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has died at 56. (CNN)
"Barbie" raked in an additional $26 million on Tuesday, breaking yet another record. Meanwhile, "Oppenheimer" grossed an additional $12 million on the same day. (Deadline)
The Plastic Standard: Elizabeth Wagmeister reports that after the success of Greta Gerwig's "Barbie," Mattel ie eyeing additional movies for its franchises, including "Barney," "Polly Pocket," and, you guessed it, more "Barbie" movies. (Variety)
A California appeals court is slated to consider whether it will revive lawsuits from two men that were previously dismissed and which allege that Michael Jackson sexually abused them as children. (AP)
Aubrey Plaza will take to the stage for the first time in a 10-week revival of John Patrick Shanley's "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea" at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. (THR)
Hulu dropped the trailer for the third season of its hit series, "Only Murders in the Building." (YouTube)
Richard Parsons will leave Sony Pictures Television after 12 years. (The Wrap)

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino and produced with the assistance of Liam Reilly. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will see you back in your inbox tomorrow.