Happy Monday! Here's the latest on ABC, Chris Cuomo, Rumble, Adam Mosseri, Kim Masters, Jingle Ball, "Kraven," and much more... |
ABC News settled Donald Trump's defamation suit against the network and George Stephanopoulos because "this problem needed to go away," an ABC executive remarked on condition of anonymity.
But the speculation – about why ABC agreed to settle, and why now, and why at such expense – is not going away. Here's my brand new story all about it.
Judging from social media reactions to the news, partisan know-it-alls on the right think the "why" is obvious: ABC lied about Trump, they say, so now the network is being punished accordingly. Some Trump critics on the left are also certain that they know what's going on: They say ABC could have won at trial, and instead ABC's parent company Disney is bowing to Trump for craven political purposes.
Ultimately, the reasons for the settlement may remain a secret. The network has not commented (or covered the news of the $15 million payment on TV). The funds have been earmarked to a "presidential foundation and museum," and one can only imagine how Trump might troll ABC with a "Gallery of Fake News" or something similar.
But media lawyers told me it is rare to see a settlement at this stage of a legal dispute. "Why would they do this now?" is the question Ken Turkel, who is representing Sarah Palin in her resurrected defamation suit against the NYT, asked a colleague over the weekend.
One obvious possibility is that "perhaps they didn't want to be actively litigating against a sitting president," Turkel said. Also, "you would have to consider" whether the discovery process unearthed embarrassing ABC emails or texts that weakened the network's case. Read on for Floyd Abrams' reaction and more...
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>> "Given that the ABC lawsuit seemed like an easy win for the network, the settlement feels like something designed to curry favor with Trump as he enters office," Lisa Needham wrote for Public Notice.
>> The settlement "feels like it could be an inflection point in the Orbanization of our politics. I hope it isn't," Bill Kristol commented on X.
>> "No," Matt Mackowiak replied, "it means media figures cannot lie about Republicans anymore and escape accountability."
>> Hugh Hewitt commented: "If anyone is drawing a lesson from ABC's capitulation other than 'Do not recklessly disregard the truth much less lie outright even when it's a public figure,' they are lousy analysts."
>> Richard Stengel wrote: Trump "has sued dozens of publications and media outlets in order to intimidate the press into self-censorship, not to actually win any particular case."
🔌: I'll be joining Jim Acosta on CNN at 10:30 a.m. ET with more on this...
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New York Times reporter David Enrich says a "small flurry" of recent defamation suit threats – including one threat made by Pete Hegseth's attorney live on CNN – are a big sign "that the incoming Trump administration appears poised to do what it can to crack down on unfavorable media coverage." Actual suits are "another weapon at their disposal — and they are being deployed even before Mr. Trump moves back into the White House," Enrich writes.
Inspired by Enrich's use of the word "flurry," I'll take it a step further: We know snow is in the proverbial forecast, but we don't know if we'll just see flurries, or be buried by a blizzard. "For the press heading into a second Trump administration, there's a balancing act between being prepared and being fearful," the AP's David Bauder wrote in a new story today.
>> Related: Max Tani obtained an Axios internal memo about looming legal dangers, telling staffers "to be careful and aware of the risks..."
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Jorge Ramos said his TV farewells over the weekend, ending an incredible tenure at Univision, the country's dominant Spanish-language broadcaster. Reading between the lines of his sign-off and his Substack, he feels he is protecting his journalistic independence by leaving the company.
As Hadas Gold reported in October, Univision has "softened" its tone, particularly toward Trump, and Ramos's exit was, "for many, the ultimate sign that Univision’s editorial position is changing."
>> Ramos says he doesn't know what he's going to do next, but "journalists never retire. We are condemned for life to follow the news, to follow the new."
>> ICYMI: Last month two of Univision's top execs flew to Mar-a-Lago "so the president-elect could personally thank them for TelevisaUnivision's Spanish-language coverage after Hispanic support shifted toward Republicans," the WSJ reported last week.
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Political media notes and quotes |
>> Morning Brew's headline: "The CEOs go marching one-by-one to Mar-a-Lago." Jeff Bezos is expected to visit Trump this week. (Morning Brew)
>> Stuart A. Thompson watched 47 hours of video on Rumble for this report on the "alternate reality" of "right-wing YouTube." He said nearly every video framed things the same way, "focusing on how news was discussed by mainstream media, and then complaining about it." (NYT)
>> Breitbart News has "fallen on hard times," but with Trump returning to office, the site is making "a renewed bid for influence," Ian Ward writes. (Politico)
>> Insightful new episode of "The Daily" this morning: "Pete Hegseth Was Toast. The MAGA Swarm Came to His Rescue." (NYT)
>> The WSJ editorial board's take on the drones (and all the planes that look like drones) is the same as my own take: "The loss of public trust in U.S. institutions is well-chronicled, and for an example of its cost consider the national mini-panic over unidentified aerial objects." (WSJ)
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The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has "rejected a temporary pause on the ban of TikTok, calling such a block 'unwarranted,' and paving the way for the Supreme Court to potentially decide the fate of the popular video-sharing app," as CNN's Auzinea Bacon explains here. The ban is supposed to go into effect in 34 days...
>> Big media companies, including Fox, NBC, and the New York Times, "are making bets on TikTok at a time when the future of the platform itself is in question," Isabella Simonetti reports on the front page of today's WSJ...
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>> New this morning: NewsNation says 8 p.m. anchor Chris Cuomo has signed a multi-year contract renewal. (NewsNation)
>> Another big hire for The Free Press: Chuck Lane is leaving The Washington Post to become deputy editor. (Mediaite)
>> THR veteran Kim Masters is jumping to Puck to write a twice-a-month column, break news, and participate in podcasts. (TBN)
>> The ad-hoc New York Editorial Board is up and running. (NY Editorial Board)
>> "CNN says it is investigating the identity of a Syrian man who may have given the network a 'false identity' during a segment depicting his apparent release from a secret Damascus prison." (Beast)
>> "Will Vogue apologize for calling Asma al-Assad 'A Rose in the Desert'?" (Vogue)
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The Los Angeles Times assigned veteran reporter James Rainey to examine Patrick Soon-Shiong's "controversial shakeup" at the paper. "Reporting on your own institution is always difficult — but at this moment its essential," deputy managing editor Shelby Grad wrote, thanking Rainey for taking the assignment on.
Soon-Shiong previewed his coming revamp of the editorial board (it will be split into a local/regional panel and a national/international one) and said he'll be taking "a direct and more active role" at the paper going forward. Much more here...
>> Rainey's story came two days after Tony Barboza, one of the Times’ two remaining editorial board staffers, said he would step down from the role and shift over to the paper’s newsroom...
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I spent Friday night singing along to Benson Boone and Meghan Trainor at the Z100 Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden, and I couldn't help but notice what a powerful billboard for iHeartRadio the whole event was.
iHeart puts on these pop star shows in ten cities each December and highlights its local stations and talent at each stop. (Boston's Jingle Ball was last night and Philly's edition is tonight.) The company is also turning the concert series into a prime time ABC special later this week. From my vantage point, it's an awfully effective flywheel...
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>> The BBC formally complained to Apple after the new Apple Intelligence feature "falsely made it appear BBC News had published an article claiming" Luigi Mangione "had shot himself." (BBC)
>> Apple "is preparing a series of major design and format changes to its lineup of iPhones and potentially other products, a bid to revive growth after years of offering largely incremental upgrades,”
Aaron Tilley and
Yang Jie report, noting that, beginning in 2025, the company is planning slimmer smartphones, as well as foldable devices. (WSJ)
>> "Generative AI is clearly producing content that is difficult to discern from recordings of reality, and improving rapidly," Meta's Adam Mosseri says in a thread arguing that "social media needs more context because of AI." (The Verge)
>> J Wortham's cautionary essay about Bluesky: "No service will save us, and we shouldn't expect one to." (NYT)
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Jay-Z accuser acknowledges 'some mistakes' |
In an interview with NBC's Chloe Melas in Houston, an anonymous woman "who accused rappers Jay-Z and Sean 'Diddy' Combs of sexually assaulting her when she was 13 at an awards show after-party has acknowledged certain inconsistencies in her story, while her lawyer said he will continue to vet her claims," the AP's Hallie Golden reports.
Melas and her colleagues detailed the inconsistencies here. I'm sure Jay Z's attorney Alex Spiro will have more to say about this soon...
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'Kraven' crashes at box office |
"Sony's first R-rated comic book movie Kraven the Hunter bombed in its domestic box office debut this weekend, hunting down only $11 million," THR's Pamela McClintock writes. "Kraven supplanted Madame Web to rank as the worst start ever for a Sony-produced Marvel comic book movie... and one of the worst for any pic based on a Marvel character, not adjusted for inflation."
>> "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" also "fell on its sword as the 'Moana' sequel and 'Wicked' — which cleared the $500 million mark worldwide — saved the weekend," she adds...
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>> It's really over! Or is it? "Paramount Network's 'Yellowstone' concluded on Sunday after five seasons..." (Business Insider)
>> "SNL finally got back to being SNL this weekend," Bill Kuchman says in his latest "deep SNL thoughts" column. Here's what he means... (Popculturology)
>> Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department has notched "a 17th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart..." (Billboard)
>> Disney has reached "a California record $233 million settlement with Disneyland workers over a 2019 class-action wage theft lawsuit..." (TheWrap)
>> John Towfighi has an interesting new story about how Sony "has turned itself around by innovating its games business beyond consoles and making acquisitions to expand its IP..." (CNN)
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