CNN Stars Erin Burnett, Brianna Keilar Face Uncertain Future as Paramount Wins Warner Bros.: Ellison Reportedly Discussed With Trump Firing Both Hosts

The future of some of CNN’s most vocally anti-Trump stars could be in doubt now that Paramount Global — controlled by the billionaire Ellison family — has won control of CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. On Thursday, Netflix backed out of its deal to acquire WBD after WBD’s board, under pressure, said Paramount had made a superior offer.“A chill has settled over CNN as staffers fear for the future,” the far left media reporter Oliver Darcy wrote in his Beehiv newsletter on Thursday night, quoting an “insider” as telling him that, “The panic at CNN right now is off the charts.”The Paramount news will likely lead to questions about the future of CNN news personalities critical of President Trump, such as Brianna Keilar and Erin Burnett. The Guardian reported in November that the Ellison patriarch, Larry Ellison, who depending on the value of Oracle stock is often the second richest person in the world, discussed firing Ms. Keiler and Ms. Burnett with Mr. Trump.Then in December, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Ellison’s son, David, who is the chairman and CEO of Paramount Global, “offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he’d make sweeping changes to CNN.” In December, WBD had accepted Netflix’s $83 billion offer for WBD’s streaming studio businesses, leaving its declining cable assets — including CNN — to be spun off under a separate company. However, Paramount did not give up on acquiring the whole company. Executives said they would mount a hostile takeover bid. Earlier this week, WBD said it received a revised Paramount offer of $31 billion per share, valued at more than its $108.4 billion offer from December. That kicked off a four-day period for Netflix to decide whether or not to come back with a revised offer.On Thursday evening, the chief executive officer of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, said, “We’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.”Ms. Keilar and Ms. Burnett are doughty and fierce opponents of Mr. Trump, though they have both moderated their tone somewhat since his return to power. In January of 2024, Ms. Keilar famously aired a segment called “Brianna Keilar rolls the tape on Trump’s racist language” during which she accused the once and future president, in detail, of being racist. Ms. Burnett, during the 2024 campaign, said that Mr. Trump’s comments about migrants were similar to remarks “used repeatedly by Hitler.” This enraged Mr. Trump, who called her “not smart and very boring.” The CEO of Paramount, David and Larry Ellison, are seen as aligned with President Trump — though the president has denied that they are his friends, citing his frustration with CBS News’s harsh coverage of this administration. Last year, David Ellison’s attorneys promised the Trump Administration in writing that CBS News would produce unbiased journalism after he acquired CBS’ parent company, Paramount. The Ellisons have seen mixed results in their efforts to reform CBS News in the face of fierce opposition from within the steadfastly liberal organization.Earlier this week, there were new questions about whether the Netflix deal would receive regulatory approval. In what appeared to be the latest obstacle to the deal, Mr. Trump demanded over the weekend that the company fire a board member and former Obama adviser, Susan Rice, after she warned that corporations that “take a knee to Trump” will be “held accountable” whenever Democrats return to power.Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Netflix should fire racist, Trump Deranged Susan Rice, IMMEDIATELY, or pay the consequences.”The Paramount deal will require regulatory approval in America and Europe. However, Paramount executives have expressed optimism that the deal will be finalized and receive the necessary approvals within a year.

CNN Stars Erin Burnett, Brianna Keilar Face Uncertain Future as Paramount Wins Warner Bros.: Ellison Reportedly Discussed With Trump Firing Both Hosts

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