President Donald Trump, for some reason, lashed out again at Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison and his father, Larry Ellison — complaining about his treatment by CBS News’ “60 Minutes” newsmagazine.
“For those people that think I am close with the new owners of CBS, please understand that 60 Minutes has treated me far worse since the so-called ‘takeover,’ than they have ever treated me before,” Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social.
The U.S. president added: “If they are friends, I’d hate to see my enemies!”
A spokesperson for Paramount Skydance declined to comment.
David Ellison, after completing Skydance Media’s acquisition of Paramount Global in August, has been aggressively trying to land a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in its entirety. Over the course of 12 weeks, Ellison had proffered an increasingly aggressive series of bids for Warner Bros. Discovery in its entirety, starting at $19/share Sept. 14 and most recently offering $30/share as of Dec. 4.
After WBD announced an agreement to accept Netflix’s $82.7 billion bid for Warner Bros.’ studios and HBO Max, Ellison on Dec. 8 launched a hostile takeover maneuver, announcing that Skydance was taking its offer for all of Warner Bros. Discovery directly to shareholders. The WBD board of directors is now formally reviewing Paramount’s $30/share bid.
Bucking historical precedent, Trump has inserted himself in the U.S. government’s review for a deal involving Warner Bros., claiming he would be “involved” in the review of the Netflix-WB deal.
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Trump was asked last week at a White House briefing with reporters if he was in favor of Paramount’s rival bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. He responded, “I don’t know enough about it,” saying he had to look at how each proposed deal would impact market share for Netflix and Paramount Skydance. Trump added, “I mean, none of them are particularly great friends of mine. You know, I want to do what’s right.” Trump also was asked if the backing of Paramount’s bid by Affinity Partners — the investment firm led by his son-in-law Jared Kushner — would influence the his opinion. Trump said that “I’ve never spoken with him” about Paramount’s WBD bid.
In the past, Trump has bragged about his friendship with David Ellison and Larry Ellison. Indeed, Trump recently pushed Paramount to move forward on “Rush Hour 4” from Bret Ratner because the president loves the action-comedy movie franchise.
But Trump appeared to be triggered over a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Dec. 7 on CBS with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), the one-time Trump supporter who has recently criticized the president on a range of issues. Trump complained in a Truth Social post Dec. 8 that since the Ellisons bought Paramount, “60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE!”
From Variety US