Just a few paces from the Shari Redstone studio in the Paramount building near Times Square, newly minted CEO David Ellison, flanked by members of his executive team, met the press for the first time since wrapping up Skydance’s $8 billion merger with the legacy media giant. Immediately, Ellison found himself in the hot seat when Fox Business Network’s Charlie Gasparino asked him to address Donald Trump’s claim that he’d made a side deal with the new owners that would include airing $20 million worth of ads, public service announcements, “or similar programming” as part of a settlement to resolve the president’s lawsuit against CBS News over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview.
“We were not involved in the settlement in any way,” Ellison replied, adding that Skydance “complied with all laws, including the antibribery law.” That answer wasn’t going to cut it for the slew of media reporters in the room, one of whom asked whether the company has a deal with Trump to provide free airtime. “We are not going to politicize anything today,” Ellison said in response.
Given that this was the first opportunity to pepper Ellison, 42, with questions, it seemed like the entire media-reporting corps trekked midday Thursday to Paramount’s Midtown headquarters for a private luncheon. Kara Swisher and Ben Smith were on hand, along with Brian Stelter, Oliver Darcy, Peter Kafka, Sara Fischer, Ben Mullin, Lachlan Cartwright, Stephen Battaglio, and more. Perched on high-top tables, journalists probed Ellison and his executive team for more than 30 minutes on business and politics (and where the two collide).
That’s unavoidable given the circumstances surrounding the acquisition, which was approved by the FCC in July, after Paramount settled Trump’s defamation lawsuit for $16 million. Congressional leaders, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, have raised concerns about Trump’s alleged deal with Skydance. Paramount has denied the accusations.
Following the settlement, CBS canceled The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, citing financial reasons. Further drama ensued in July, just one day after Paramount announced a deal with the creators of South Park for $1.5 billion, when the animated show kicked off its 27th season by mocking both Paramount and Trump.
When Vanity Fair asked Ellison whether he watched Wednesday’s episode of South Park, which once again skewered the Trump administration by mocking Vice President JD Vance and Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem, as well as the president, he said that he hadn’t had a chance to yet, given that the episodes come out a day later on the Paramount+ streaming platform. He added that he plans to watch the episode this evening, after he finishes making the rounds on deal day. Asked whether he was concerned about the Trump administration taking issue with the show’s content, Ellison argued that the creators are “equal-opportunity offenders.”
HOW C-SUITE IT IS: Jeff Shell, Gerry Cardinale, David Ellison, George Cheeks and Andy Gordon.
Mary Kouw/Courtesy Paramount.
In taking control of Paramount, Ellison has said he intends to find more than $2 billion in cost-cutting measures. LightShed Partners’ Rich Greenfield, who has been a media analyst for over two decades, told Vanity Fair prior to Thursday’s lunch that he thinks “there’s a lot of cost-cutting still to go” on the linear-TV side of the business, but that “on the streaming and studio [side], they need investment, not cutting.” Greenfield added that if Paramount aspires to become a “long-term streaming winner,” it has a responsibility to invest heavily in the company.
At lunch, in response to a question about how the company plans to implement the cuts, Jeff Shell, who will serve as the president, said, “We don’t believe, and I think this is true of all five of us, that we could cut our way to growth. In this business, you have to invest.”
Ellison argued Paramount needs to be the “most technical media company out there.” Clearly, he has an advantage on this front, as his father, Larry Ellison, is the cofounder of the software company Oracle (and worth more than $300 billion.) Ellison has consistently emphasized his understanding of the technology ecosystem, once touting his family’s close relationship with Steve Jobs, and the early advice Jobs gave him on Skydance, on Swisher’s Sway podcast.
Ellison has significant experience within film and TV production, with Skydance being involved with the Mission: Impossible franchise, Top Gun: Maverick, Jack Ryan, and more. However, the newly minted Chairman and CEO of Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, has never run a company as large as the conglomerate that reportedly has around 18,000 staffers.
Meanwhile, over at CBS News, some staffers are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Ellison made an appearance for Thursday’s morning editorial meeting, shortly after the merger was made official, where he reportedly reassured staffers of his dedication to the “legacy of CBS News.” Ellison mentioned his newsroom appearance while answering questions at the luncheon, adding that his visits to CBS News and 60 Minutes, specifically, “hopefully speaks to how important of a part of the organization I believe they are.”
Gerry Cardinale, founder and managing partner of RedBird Capital, a major backer of the merger, added that it would simply be “bad business” to attempt to influence the output of a news organization. “The kernel of the entire investment thesis is independence and objectivity. If you can’t get your head around that, don’t buy it,” he said. One CBS News insider tells me that internally, “Many people quietly feel good.” After over a year of uncertainty and financial strains, “People are ready for a fresh start and change and want CBS News to succeed,” the source added.
While mingling after the Q&A session, I asked Ellison about trust in news in these polarized times. “Half my family is Democrat, half my family is Republican,” he said, adding: “I don’t intend to put my finger on the scale.” Shortly thereafter, Melissa Zukerman, who was recently appointed as chief communications officer, told me, and Oliver Darcy, “No more PSA questions”—insinuating the team was exhausted by the queries, taking Ellison away from the two of us to make his way around the room.
