 Leslie Moonves |
Embattled CBS CEO Leslie Moonves has hired Daniel Petrocelli, whose legal clients have included Donald Trump in the Trump University case, former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and the family of Ron Goldman in a civil suit against O.J. Simpson, to represent him in CBS’s ongoing internal investigation, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Petrocelli will face off against former SEC chairman Mary Jo White from Debevoise & Plimpton and ex-federal prosecutor Nancy Kestenbaum from Covington & Burling, who will be leading the probe. Petrocelli, who recently defended the AT&T-Time Warner merger, has been called “a lawyer clients call in the toughest situations,” by The American Lawyer. He is currently chair of the trial practice committee at O’Melveny & Myers. The examination into Moonves' conduct follows a New Yorker story which alleged that he made unwanted sexual advances on several women employed by CBS. CBS might be the target of a wrongful termination lawsuit if they fire Moonves. That would increase the company’s legal challenges as it looks toward an October trial with its controlling shareholder, the Shari and Sumner Redstone-owned National Amusements, over a possible merger between CBS and Viacom, also controlled by the Redstones.
 Bill Maher |
Bill Maher, host of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” has donated $1 million to the Senate Majority PAC, a fundraising committee dedicated to building a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate. The committee is run by allies of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In 2012, Maher donated the same amount to Priorities USA Action to help get Obama reelected. On his show, Maher has attacked “billionaire liberals” for not making contributions on the same scale as those made by such Republican donors as Sheldon Adelson. “I’m very appreciative of Bill’s generosity and urge all Americans to do everything they can to take back the Senate and restore our democracy,” Schumer said in a statement.
 Phillip Picardi |
Phillip Picardi is the latest high-profile exit from Condé Nast. The chief content officer at Teen Vogue, which shuttered its print edition last year, as well as the founder of THEM, the publisher’s LGBT-focused media platform, Piccardi is heading to Out magazine, where he will become editor-in-chief, succeeding Aaron Hicklin. At Out, he will supervise the print magazine, as well as its digital platform. Picardi started out as an intern at Condé Nast, becoming online beauty editor at Teen Vogue in 2014, with a promotion to digital editorial director in 2015. He was considered to be a linchpin in Condé Nast artistic director Anna Wintour’s plans to refashion the company for the digital era. “He understands how young people are thinking today,” Wintour told the New York Times for a March article about Picardi.
Michael Kaminer, who was responsible for the Observer’s “Power List” for the past 13 years, has cut ties with the publication... The New York Times Company continues the march toward its goal of 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027... The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is providing more than $6 million in funding to eight organizations working to address the challenges local news and information environments face along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Conservative outlets Fox News, Newsmax and the Daily Caller are holding back from signing Pete Hegseth’s edict restricting press access in the Pentagon... CBS News sees the first executive departure of the Bari Weiss era as head of standards and practices Claudia Milne exits... Indiana University shuts down the print version of The Indiana Daily Student.
Rothschild family plans to unload 26.7 percent stake in The Economist... STAT, a digital media company that focuses the life sciences, brings back Damian Garde, who anchored its biotech newsletter and podcast from 2016 to 2024... High Times officially resumes print publication (following its 2024 shutdown) with the release of a limited-edition, collectible 50th anniversary issue. 
CBS News is set to hand over its reins to The Free Press co-founder Bari Weiss as Paramount acquires her site for $155M... C-SPAN comes on board as an official media partner of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which is charged by Congress to lead the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence... A new Gallup survey says that the level of trust that US audiences have in the media has hit a new low.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has named Kenneth Weinstein, former head of the conservative Hudson Institute, as ombudsman for CBS News.
