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Monday, December 11, 2023

Shari Redstone explores a sale, Sports Illustrated's parent company fires its CEO, Jezebel returns, Tucker Carlson announces he will charge fans for his vlogs, Project Veritas CEO quits after discovering "past illegalities," Epic defeats Google in major antitrust trial, Threads teases E.U. launch, Golden Globes announce nominations, and so much more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Rated X for Extreme

CNN Photo Illustration/Belinda Jiao/Getty Images

Elon Musk seems hellbent on transforming what was once Twitter into a far-right fever swamp.

The billionaire conspiracy theorist once vowed that the platform, which he rebranded as X, would not "become a free-for-all hellscape" under his watch. But since he made that pledge in October 2022, Musk has ordered a number of actions that fly in the face of those words.

The most glaring example, arguably, came over the weekend when Musk welcomed back right-wing extremist Alex Jones, the notorious conspiracy theorist most infamous for tormenting the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting with reprehensible lies. Jones had been banned by the social media company's previous management for repeated violations of harassment and hate policies.

But Musk welcomed Jones back into the social media kingdom that he now reigns over after conducting a very unscientific poll of his followers and a right-wing pressure campaign from Jones' allies demanding the Infowars founder be given back his megaphone. That pressure campaign coincided with a sympathetic interview Jones did with Tucker Carlson, another right-wing extremist who Musk often promotes.

Not only did Musk cave to the demands of the right-wing mob and reinstate Jones' account, but X actively encouraged its users to follow it. Prior to his ban five years ago, Jones had nearly 900,000 followers on Twitter. By Monday evening, he had had surged to 1.6 million on X.

This behavior should not be seen in a vacuum. It's part of a year-long pattern for Musk, who acquired Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion. As owner, Musk has reversed previous bans on racists, extremists, and others exiled for repeatedly going over the guardrails. Musk, who removed such guardrails, has defended these actions by portraying himself as a free speech absolutist, though he has simultaneously tried to curtail the speech of critics.

Regardless, what is perhaps most alarming about Musk's behavior is how he has seemed to go out of his way to amplify the voices of right-wing extremists. Not only has Musk allowed them to return to the platform, but as X's most-followed user, he has repeatedly promoted their dishonest posts and appeared to seek out their approval.

On Sunday evening, for instance, instead of addressing the families of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting and explaining to them his rationale for entrusting Jones with a large audience, Musk spent his time hanging out with the professional conspiracy theorist and other right-wing extremists on an audio stream, answering their questions and taking their requests.

That audio stream included Andrew Tate, the misogynistic right-wing influencer indicted by Romanian authorities on charges of human trafficking and rape (Tate denies them); Laura Loomer, a right-wing extremist and self-described "Islamophobe"; retired Gen. Michael Flynn, a once respected military member who embraced conspiratorial delusion; and Jack Posobiec, a far-right internet personality.

It was a look, in effect, at Musk's cabinet of advisers. The world's richest man surrounding himself with dishonest figures and allowing them to shape the policies of X, a communications platform still used by world governments, top companies, news organizations, and public figures. His flirtation with some of the most notorious right-wing extremists is not happening in secret, off-the-record meetings. It is happening in broad daylight for everyone to see.

And while some continue to hold out hope that Musk will see the error of his ways that has spawned a mass exodus of advertisers, cratering the company's valuation, it is clear that he has fallen into a conspiratorial rabbit hole, taking the entire platform down with him.

X MARKS THE HATE

Elon Musk's welcoming of extremists like Alex Jones has put a spotlight on the NFL's mega-partnership with X, amid their renewal talks. Yale professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld told me that "great brands such as the NFL cannot burn in the fires" of Musk's "tantrums" and maintain a business relationship with him. The NFL, meanwhile, ignored requests for comment on Musk's reinstatement of Jones and its overall partnership with X. (CNN)
While most major advertisers have fled X, some big names are still apparently happy to be in business with Musk and pay him to market their products on the embattled social platform. Google, Vox Media, Reuters, State Farm, Fortnite, Oreo Cookies, OnlyFans, and Office Depot have run ads since Jones was reinstated. None of them chose to comment when contacted Monday.
Piers Morgan is a lot more clear eyed about the situation: "Musk couldn't be more wrong about Alex Jones," Morgan wrote in a scathing column. "He's not a free-speech hero — he's a hate speech monster." (NY Post)
Even after being ordered by courts to pay more than $1 billion to the Sandy Hook families, Jones is still lying. During his Sunday chat with Musk, Jones lied about his harassment of the families, while also peddling conspiracy theories on a range of other topics, Clare Duffy reported. (CNN)
Another notable figures exits X: Sherrilyn Ifill, a prominent civil rights attorney, announced she's abandoning Musk's platform over Jones' reinstatement, saying his return "completes its utter degradation. We are in a war for the human soul." (POLITICO)
Will we see others exit X as it becomes a right-wing fever swamp? News organizations? Public officials? Celebrities? Or is this a case of the frog not recognizing that the water has come to a slow boil?
"Jones and Carlson both returning to X in recent months undoubtedly marks a shift on the platform and a watershed moment in mass media in general as the far-right has found a new mechanism for reaching more and more people outside of websites like InfoWars or the Gateway Pundit," Alex Griffing wrote. (Mediaite)
"There was a time when Jones, despite his obvious right-wing orientation, was simply too ridiculous and too out-there to be offered any attention by establishment Republicans," Philip Bump noted. "But that slowly shifted over the past few years." (WaPo)
Donie O'Sullivan and Jake Tapper spoke about the sheer volume of conspiracy theories circulating on X. "There's a lot of money in bulls**t," O'Sullivan said. (Mediaite)
First in Reliable | The Verge will publish a special series Tuesday morning, aptly titled, "The Year That Twitter Died." The series will include articles from Nilay Patel, Sarah Jeong, Zoë Schiffer, and The Verge staff. It's set to go live at 9.30am ET.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

To Sell or Not?: Buzz about Shari Redstone selling off her media empire is heating up. The media mogul — who owns a controlling stake in National Amusements, which controls Paramount Global — has explored possible deals to part ways with the treasured assets, according to multiple reports. First, Puck's Matthew Belloni reported that David Ellison's Skydance was in talks, then The WSJ's Jessica Toonkel reported Monday that Activision boss Bobby Kotick has also spoken to Redstone about a possible sale. Regardless of how this turns out, it's a major 180 for Redstone, who previously fought a bitter battle to retain control of the media empire. As Toonkel wrote, "That Redstone is discussing a sale of National Amusements after battling with her late father Sumner Redstone, his girlfriends and senior company executives for control, is a sign of the difficult choices media executives are confronting."

THE INDUSTRY

CNN Photo Illustration/Tom Cooper/Getty Images

You're Out!: A bloodbath has taken place over the last week at The Arena Group, the publisher that oversees household brands such as Sports Illustrated and The Street. The latest victim? The company's chief executive Ross Levinsohn. A spokesperson for The Arena Group declined to go into detail and explain the reason for Levinsohn's ouster, but it notably came in the wake of an embarrassing A.I.-related debacle at Sports Illustrated. CNN's Liam Reilly has all the details here.

THE FOURTH ESTATE

Jezebel is … back! And with Lauren Tousignant at the helm as chief editor. (Jezebel)
Despite what Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav said about potentially working with fired CNN chief Chris Licht again at the company in another capacity, Dylan Byers reported there are "no plans to bring Licht back into the WBD fold ever." (Puck)
What do you think of CNBC's new ticker? Brian Steinberg has the details on the fresh look for the financial network. (Variety)
After a snafu, CNN said that its New Hampshire debate is "likely to change" from St. Anselm College to another venue. (CNN)
CNN announced that Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen will return for the network's NYE show. Sara Sidner and Cari Champion will take over coverage at 12:30am ET. (THR)
The Nation is reimagining its print edition, switching from a biweekly publication to a monthly, Kate Dwyer reported. (The Nation)
MailOnline will place a slim selection of its stories behind a paywall. (FT)
Financial news site Investing.com is using A.I. to generate stories that eerily resemble those written by humans on other websites, Max Tani reported. (Semafor)

IN THE MARKET

The one-time high-flying cable TV has entered its inevitable endgame, Zombie TV, writes John Koblin. (NYT)
Altice USA in reportedly in talks to sell Cheddar News to Regent, a private equity firm, Alex Sherman reported, citing sources. (CNBC)
Netflix is wading further into live sports, with the streaming giant set to serve up tennis in real-time, Joseph Pisani reported. (WSJ)
Showtime will officially rebrand its linear TV channel as "Paramount+ with Showtime" in January. (TheWrap)

MEDIA MOVES

The LAT promoted Ruthanne Salido as assistant managing editor. (LAT)
The NYT announced Stefanos Chen will join Metro as a reporter and that Scott Heller is joining the book review section as an editor. (NYT/NYT)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Lynne Sladky/Reuters

Carlson's Conspiracy Channel: Tucker Carlson on Monday launched what he billed as his own network — if you can call posting a few online videos a week and charging fans for access to them a "network." Nevertheless, Carlson's new venture, with a red-pill themed logo, is just the right-wing extremist's latest move that thumbs his nose at Fox News, his former employer who he remains locked in a legal dispute with. Last I checked, the fired Fox News host was still technically under contract with Fox News, meaning he should be prohibited from launching his own media business. Earlier in the summer, Axios' Sara Fischer and Mike Allen reported that Fox News notified Carlson he was in breach of his contract over his X-based show. A spokesperson declined to comment on the matter Monday.

🔎 Zooming in: Outside his dispute with Fox News, Carlson launches his media company at a time when right-wing luminaries — no matter how dishonest — are making enormous profits online. Glenn Beck, Megyn Kelly, and others have found great success building media empires based around their fanbases. What's disturbing, however, is when such companies are built on lies, like Carlson's will be. The former Fox News host advertised his "network" on Monday by claiming the press had lied to the public on a host of important issues, such as the safety of the Covid-19 vaccines. What's sad, of course, is that Carlson is the one lying to his audience.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

A question to the rest of the press: What value is there in writing up articles promoting Tucker Carlson's "network?" Most of the stories that I read failed to adequately describe the insidious nature of Carlson's rhetoric and just served as an effective advertisement for the right-wing conspiracy theorist.
Matt Gertz offered his thoughts on Carlson's new venture: It "is another entrant in an increasingly crowded field of right-wing outlets helmed by former Fox figures, all seeking the approval, money, and time of the same audience traditionally dominated by the right-wing outlet." (MMFA)
Meanwhile, Carlson — who once privately ranted against the "destructive" Donald Trump and said he "passionately" hates him — kissed up to the disgraced former president in an interview with Megyn Kelly. "I'm a total sucker for Trump," Carlson claimed, calling Trump "funny as hell," "brave," and "just charming." 🤔 (Mediaite)
Switching gears: The drama at Project Veritas continues. Hannah Giles, who returned to the right-wing group after James O'Keefe was ousted, publicly quit the organization on Monday. Giles said she had found evidence of "past illegality" and that she had taken that information "to the appropriate law enforcement agencies," Liam Reilly reported. (CNN)
"A ghost of Fox News' past has come back to try and haunt the conservative cable giant," Justin Baragona and Corbin Bolies write, reporting that Andrea Tantaros "has revived her longstanding, twice-dismissed claims against the network." (Daily Beast)
NBC News demanded the Trump campaign remove a fake clip of Garrett Haake supposedly making disparaging comments about GOP candidates, Shelby Talcott and Max Tani report. (Semafor)
"What books?" Kaitlan Collins tried to follow Ron Johnson down his conspiratorial rabbit hole — and it went as expected, with the senator struggling to provide evidence on live TV to support his case. (Threads)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images

An Epic Win: Google has been illegally operating a monopoly with its Google Play store, a San Francisco jury unanimously decided Monday. The ruling came in Epic v. Google after the video game-maker known for Fortnite sued the Silicon Valley titan over the control it wields over apps and the fees developers must pay to operate in their store. "Victory over Google!" Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney declared after the decision. Epic had previously sued Apple unsuccessfully over similar claims. CNN's Brian Fung has more here.

► Google said it would challenge the verdict: "Android and Google Play provide more choice and openness than any other major mobile platform. The trial made clear that we compete fiercely with Apple and its App Store, as well as app stores on Android devices and gaming consoles. We will continue to defend the Android business model and remain deeply committed to our users, partners, and the broader Android ecosystem."

TOO MANY TABS

As X deteriorates, Threads is getting bigger. The app is teasing its E.U. launch with a countdown that ends Thursday. (AFP)
Addicted: A new study from the Pew Research Center shows that teenagers use social media "almost constantly." (Pew)
Microsoft is working with labor unions to start "an open dialogue" regarding how A.I. will impact employees. (Bloomberg)
Good news: The E.U. cemented A.I. regulations. Bad news: The bloc is stuck in a legal void until the rules go into effect — in 2025. (Axios)
Apple is incentivizing artists to use high-end audio formats, offering to add more weight to their streams should they mix them using Dolby Atmos technology. (Bloomberg)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Hannah Beier/Washington Post/Getty Images

The Golden Gauge: The Golden Globes, often seen as an indicator of how well films will perform at the Academy Awards, released its annual nominations on Monday — and no surprise, "Barbenheimer" dominated the list. "Barbie" led the film pack with nine nominations, closely followed by "Oppenheimer" with eight. Meanwhile, the final season of HBO's "Succession" led the television categories with a Golden Globes TV record of nine nominations; "The Bear" and "Only Murders in the Building" each had five. CNN's Lisa Respers France has the full breakdown here.

► CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister reported on why Chris Rock and other top comedians have declined offers to host the Globes this year.

► And Variety's Kate Aurthur and Adam B. Vary have a full look at all of this year's snubs.

OFF STAGE

Hayao Miyazaki's latest animated film, "The Boy and the Heron," led the box office with a cool $12.3 million. (TheWrap)
On an animated note: Drew Taylor chronicles how Netflix became an animation powerhouse in the streaming world. (TheWrap)
Stephen Colbert will return to the "Late Show" this week, albeit without his appendix. (TheWrap)
As "Leave the World Behind" captivates audiences on Netflix, Sam Esmail speaks about the film's "Mr. Robot" connections. (THR)
Lena Dunham is creating a rom-com series for Netflix. (Variety)
"La La Land" is heading back to the Chinese box office. (Deadline)
K-pop boy band Ateez's latest album dominated the Billboard 200, making them the fourth K-pop group to do so in 2023. (NYT)

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. You can follow us on Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn. We will see you back in your inbox tomorrow.