"What's going to happen?"
I spent the day at Vanity Fair's New Establishment Summit. All day, the question was "what's going to happen?" Other versions of the question included "will he survive?" and "how long will he last?"
All of the Q's, of course, were about President Trump. Movers and shakers, just like the rest of us, are wondering how the impeachment inquiry will end and whether he will hold onto power. And the comments are much more candid in private, backstage, among confidants -- than in public. No one knows what will happen. But I do know this: Anthony Scaramucci's on-stage prediction got a lot of people talking. Scaramucci says he thinks Trump will be out of office by the next Election Day, whether through resignation or removal. In the meantime, "he's doing everything he can to keep that Fox firewall up," Scaramucci said...
OTHER HEADLINES FROM THE SUMMIT...
John Legend's message
Trump seemingly tried to kick-start Tuesday's news cycle by claiming that impeachment is a "lynching." At the VF event, Legend responded by saying, "It's sad that the country has to listen to this idiot, this f---ing racist idiot, talk about lynching and making himself the victim of it when we know what real lynching was like..."
Lena Waithe on creativity at this time
Megan Thomas writes: When Lena Waithe was asked by NBC's Lester Holt if she was concerned her new film "Queen and Slim" -- about a African American man who shoots and kills a police officer in self-defense during a traffic stop -- would spark controversy, she responded, "I welcome that."
"I think in order to create change, you have to do something that's provocative," added the film's director, Melina Matsoukas. "It needs to make people uncomfortable."
"I hope the president tweets about it," Waithe continued. "I don't think you're doing your job well as an artist if this particular president isn't upset with you."
Sandberg on stage
Megan Thomas writes: In an afternoon session, Katie Couric asked Sheryl Sandberg about Facebook's decision not to take down a doctored video of Nancy Pelosi earlier this year, pointing out it had been seen over two million times by the time it had been marked as false. Sandberg acknowledged the response was too slow and said FB had made improvements in that process and trying to work faster.
When Couric asked Sandberg if she's worried she has contributed to a polarized climate, Sandberg said she worries about the tone and tenor of discourse more broadly, then pivoted. "We want people to be able to communicate and express themselves," Sandberg said. "We want people to register and vote and stay in the political process."
--> The big picture via Variety's Matt Donnelly: "Sending a jolt through a luxurious and excessively polite afternoon in Beverly Hills," Couric "delivered a relentless series of hardball questions" to Sandberg. Read on...
Active versus passive viewing | | Earlier in the day at the VF summit, I interviewed David Zaslav and Martha Stewart about Food Network Kitchen and the power of interactive TV.
The main point I tried to make: If streaming TV is the same as broadcast and cable, then why bother?! Streaming should, and can, take advantage of the unique aspects of the medium. In the case of Food Network, it's about active viewership and interactivity -- viewers can read the recipes and order the ingredients and send questions to the hosts in real time.
Stewart on Huffman
Toward the end of the aforementioned session, I knew I had to ask Stewart about Felicity Huffman. In response, Stewart described Huffman's appearance in paparazzi photos of her in prison as pretty "shlumpy."
"She made a horrible mistake, and she's experiencing what happens when that powerful mistake happened," Stewart went on to say.
I asked if Huffman could have a career post-prison, and Stewart replied, "I don't know. I hope so."
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Don Lemon's message: There is "no excuse" for Trump claiming that the impeachment inquiry is "a lynching..." (Video via Twitter)
-- Dan Balz' latest: "New testimony undercuts Trump's claim of no quid pro quo on Ukraine. How will Washington respond?" (WaPo)
-- Here's the key quote from Balz: "It is no longer a question of whether this happened. It is now a question of how the president explains it and how lawmakers choose to respond to it..." (WaPo)
-- The latest from the WSJ's editorial board: The more Trump "forces Republicans to defend words or actions that don't deserve defending, the more their resentment will build and the more political trouble he will be in." (WSJ)
WEDNESDAY PLANNER
7am ET: "CBS This Morning" is holding a special live-audience event about mental health awareness, "Stop the Stigma..."
10am: Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the House Financial Services Committee...
9am PT: Katie Couric interviews Ted Sarandos on stage at the VF summit...
8:07pm ET: World Series, Game 2...
Two of today's headlines about Facebook
Two items from Brian Fung:
First: Facebook's antitrust headaches are worsening as NYAG announced more attorneys general are involved in the state probe. The announcement came after we reported on a meeting Monday involving AGs and federal officials...
Second: As Zuckerberg heads back to Capitol Hill, Facebook is under greater scrutiny than ever. Here's my look at what awaits him in Congress. I'll have a preview on CNN's "New Day" in the 8am hour Wednesday...
Facebook's dubious claim?
Donie O'Sullivan writes: Facebook keeps saying they're not running political ads for the money. But in the US alone, the company has made almost $1 billion dollars from political and issue ads in just 17 months.
Sandberg told Couric at the VF summit that it's "not for the money, it's a very small part of our revenue. It is very small, and very controversial, we're not doing this for the money. We take political ads because we really believe they are part of political discourse." Looking at it over time, she added, "the people that benefit from political ads are those not covered by the media, so they can get their message out."
>> And yet... The biggest political ad spender on FB this year? The Trump campaign. A outfit that's not lacking in media attention.
>> Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said last week that the controversies about political ads cost the company more than they take in on them. I've asked Facebook if they can show us the math to back up the claim that this really doesn't make them a lot of money...
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Shari Redstone's message at WSJ Tech Live: "ViacomCBS Has Enough Scale to Compete..." (WSJ)
-- Bob Iger spoke at the conference on Tuesday night and "pushed back forcefully at criticism from acclaimed Hollywood directors Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola about Marvel Studios' superhero movies, saying it was disrespectful to the people who work on successful films that audiences enjoy..." (WSJ)
-- "The U.S. Postal Service is honoring the late PBS NewsHour anchor Gwen Ifill with a commemorative Forever stamp..." (PBS)
Biden on "60 Minutes" this Sunday
Television interviews with Joe Biden count as "rare" -- and Norah O'Donnell just snagged one -- "for a '60 Minutes' report on the state of his campaign," CBS says. "The interview took place at the former vice president's home in Delaware and includes a joint interview with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden." Airing this Sunday... | |
Wednesday's headlines
WaPo's front page banner: "ENVOY: TRUMP TIED AID TO BIDEN PROBE"
NYT's front page banner: "TRUMP TIED AID TO INQUIRIES, ENVOY SAYS"
Split screen
On MSNBC during Brian Williams' hour: "DEMS PREPARED TO MAKE TAYLOR TESTIMONY A KEY SUBJECT OF IMPEACHMENT"
On Fox during Laura Ingraham's hour: "RESISTANCE TRYING TO GET REVENGE"
What will the WH do?
Jim Acosta's latest reporting: "Amid growing dissatisfaction with the messaging effort at the WH for dealing with the impeachment inquiry, some advisers to the president are urging the WH to beef up the communications team to respond to the proceedings, a source familiar with the matter said." Mick Mulvaney's recent performance "has heightened the need for additional comms staffers," though the need to bolster the team "predates Mulvaney's briefing room meltdown..."
About "Anonymous"
WaPo's Philip Rucker and CNN's Jake Tapper broke the news on Tuesday: The "anonymous senior Trump administration official" who wrote an op-ed for the NYT last year has written a book. And the book is titled "A Warning." And it will be published in November by Twelve, a division of the Hachette Book Group.
"It's an honor and a privilege to publish this book. This is serious stuff and this is a serious warning about our President, " Sean Desmond, Twelve's publisher, told Tapper...
Javelin's deal
Rucker noted that the anonymous author "is being represented by Matt Latimer and Keith Urbahn of Javelin, the same literary agents who represented fired FBI director James B. Comey and former White House aide Cliff Sims."
Latimer says the author "refused the chance at a seven figure advance and intends to donate a substantial amount of any royalties to the White House Correspondents Association and other organizations that fight for a free press that seeks the truth..."
>> Here's how the book is described: "An unprecedented behind-the-scenes portrait of the Trump presidency from the anonymous senior official whose first words of warning about the president rocked the nation's capital..."
Nielsen's first public remarks
FORTUNE's Most Powerful Women Summit had quite a scoop on Tuesday -- the first public interview with Kirstjen Nielsen since Nielsen was forced out in April -- she told her on-stage interviewer, Amna Nawaz, that she left the Trump admin because "saying no" and refusing to do things that others in the admin wanted, was "not going to be enough..."
Mark Levin's laughably absurd claim
Oliver Darcy emails: Trump-era scandals have been covered left and right for years, but the news apparently hasn't reached conservative media personality Mark Levin. While speaking on his BlazeTV show, Levin laughably claimed, "While [Trump has] been president there hasn't even been a hint of scandal. Not a hint!" You'll recall, once upon a time, in 2016, Levin was a Never-Trumper who vowed, "I am not voting for Donald Trump. Period." How things have changed...
YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST
Shawna Thomas leaves Vice for Quibi
Vice's DC bureau chief Shawna Thomas said goodbye to the bureau last week... Her last day was Friday... and I hear she's heading to Quibi. Thomas will be a content executive working on daily news programming and other projects. She will start work on November 4, based in NYC, part of the team overseeing the Daily Essentials section of the forthcoming streaming service...
>> In other Quibi news: Vox Media Studios is going to produce a daily Polygon culture and gaming news show...
ESPN moves "Outside the Lines" to Saturdays
WaPo's Ben Strauss reports: "ESPN's news-driven afternoon show, 'Outside the Lines' will be downsized from its current daily 30-minute afternoon slot to an hour-long Saturday morning edition, the network announced Tuesday." Jeremy Schaap will lead the Saturday version.
No jobs will be cut... And "OTL" segments will appear "throughout the day on 'SportsCenter' as part of the changes..." But the bottom line is that there will be "less room" for in-depth and investigative sports news stories "each day on ESPN's linear TV channel," Strauss writes. He says "the network believes its new morning podcast, hosted by Mina Kimes, can be a daily platform for discussing social issues in sports and investigative work done by its journalists..."
Stephen A. Smith's future
The Big Lead's scoop on Monday night: "Stephen A. Smith and ESPN are nearing a blockbuster long-term extension that would see him signed with the Worldwide Leader through 2025, The Big Lead has learned. The deal, in total, will be worth tens of millions of dollars. A source cautioned that the deal has not been 100 percent finalized. Smith's contract is up in the next year, and by the time new deal goes into effect you can expect to see more deliberate usage of Smith's time on television."
On Tuesday the NYPost followed up and added: Smith "will leave his ESPN Radio show next year" as part of the new deal..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Verizon is giving customers a free year of Disney+. CNNI's Zain Asher interviewed CEO Hans Vestberg about the deal on "First Move..." (Video via Twitter)
-- "Business Insider is making a WeWork documentary about the unraveling of the world's most valuable startup with a hit Netflix producer..." (BI)
| | NBC re-ups Noah Oppenheim's contract
Amid the fallout from Ronan Farrow's book, NBC News execs Andy Lack and Noah Oppenheim "still have the confidence" of NBCUniversal, which "in recent months" renewed Oppenheim's contract, the WSJ's Joe Flint and Ben Mullin scooped on Tuesday.
"The contract renewal is a strong endorsement for an executive who has been at the center of such a controversy," they wrote. "These contracts are typically renewed for several years at a time, and Mr. Oppenheim is expected to succeed Mr. Lack after the 2020 presidential election."
Sil Lai Abrams on Fox on Wednesday
Per Fox News PR: "Martha MacCallum will present an interview with author and domestic violence activist Sil Lai Abrams to discuss her account of how NBC allegedly suppressed a story surrounding her claims of sexual assault against record executive Russell Simmons and Extra's A.J. Calloway." This will be Abrams' first TV interview about what happened. She wrote a piece for The Daily Beast on Monday...
In YouTube discussion, Mark Halperin apologizes for past behavior
Oliver Darcy emails: Mark Halperin sat down with Jennie Willoughby for a conversation uploaded to YouTube in which he apologized for his mistreatment of women during his time at ABC News. Willoughby in 2018 alleged abuse from her ex-husband, former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, which he denied. Halperin told Willoughby he understood his actions were harmful, saying, "I am genuinely sorry for what I did."
In the conversation, Halperin also addressed the controversy surrounding the release of his forthcoming book which is due out in November. "I know the announcement of the book was really troubling and painful for the women that I victimized," he said. "And I'm so sorry for that." Halperin said he would be willing to meet with his accusers.
>> It's worth noting: Halperin apologized in 2017 for some of his sexual misconduct, but he denied the most serious allegations of assault in the workplace, including: grabbing a woman's breasts without her consent, pressing an erection against three women, and masturbating in front of a woman inside his office.
...and praises Press Forward co-founders' plan
Darcy continues: While apologizing, Halperin praised a plan put forward by Eleanor McManus, who previously accused Halperin of misconduct and co-founded the Press Forward organization. Calling it a "smart and powerful" plan, Halperin said he wanted to embrace the three-step process McManus has proposed: apologize, acknowledge, and advocate.
I reached out to McManus to hear what she had to say. In a short statement, she told me, "While I haven't communicated with Mark, I was encouraged to see him begin to make an effort to start acknowledging his actions and their consequences. But he's had two years to do this. I sincerely hope this isn't a cynical attempt to repair his reputation on the eve of his book release. Only time and his actions will tell."
That said, Ari Wilkenfeld, the employment law attorney who helped McManus develop the three-step plan, did not seem too impressed. He described the interview to The Daily Beast as a "video presentation."
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- Kerry Flynn writes: Medium is changing its payment structure for writers in its partner program. The blogging platform will now pay based on reading time, not claps, aka its version of the "like" button. Emma Smith says the company has paid more than $6 million to more than 30,000 writers since 2017... (Medium)
Money's new owner
Kerry Flynn writes: Meredith has finally found a new home for Money, after putting the brand up for sale in March 2018 along with Time, Fortune and Sports Illustrated. The new owner Ad Practitioners is a Puerto Rico based-media company which owns digital properties like ConsumersAdvocate.org. A Meredith spokesperson told me the company received inbound interest on Money from several suitors over the last six weeks. (Meredith had ended Money's print edition in April and sold its subscriber list to Kiplinger in June, but still had the brand and site.) Terms were not disclosed.
CEO Gregory Powel's statement in the press release gave me some hope for the future of Money, since he self-identified as a "lifelong reader and fan." There were no immediate layoffs. Under the terms of the deal, Money's 14 employees will remain a part of Meredith until Jan 31, 2020, at the latest..
Snap's success story continues
Snap reported "another quarterly increase in users and revenue, signaling that changes made earlier this year to its social-media app and the launch of new tools for advertisers are helping its fortunes," the WSJ's Sarah E. Needleman reports.
This is Snapchat's "third consecutive period of growth," though the "latest increase was smaller than the 13 million users gained in the second quarter...
TechCrunch's WTF mistake
Kerry Flynn emails: TechCrunch revealed Snap's earnings about 10 minutes before they hit the wire, The Information's Alex Heath tweeted.
Companies pre-briefing press on earnings is common practice. There was the time Dow Jones "inadvertently" broke the embargo on Activision earnings -- that time with inaccurate information. As for this case, I reached out to Snap and the piece's author, Josh Constine. Both declined to comment...
Florida's SPJ is filing to trademark the phrase 'fake news'
CNN's Connor Spielmaker emails: No more tossing around the phrase "fake news" willy-nilly. The Florida Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists sent President Trump a cease-and-desist letter Tuesday to inform him he's not using the term correctly.
"It has come to our attention that you are using the term 'fake news' to describe stories and media outlets you disagree with. As owners of the trademark FAKE NEWS TM PENDING we're responsible for ensuring the term is applied correctly," the letter reads.
Emily Bloch, president of the Florida Pro chapter and reporter at the Florida Times-Union acknowledged that the trademark is a stunt, saying "we have no plans to sue the President or expect the trademark to be approved." But the chapter is doing this because "we want a bigger conversation about journalists' role in our democracy and why 'fake news' is problematic – and so the letters will go out."
SPJ's national president, Patti Newberry, endorsed the move. "The president's use of 'fake news' is ridiculous," she said.
Bloch said while the President is the first one to get a letter, he likely won't be the last. "This doesn't just apply to the president. 'Fake news' has trickled down to other politicians, celebrities, and even the general public. Anyone that needs one will get one."
The group sent a second letter Tuesday after Trump tweeted about the G7 summit – and included "the Fake News Media!"
The group also released a video explaining the stunt. The White House has not responded to CNN's request for comment...
| | They'll be back
Brian Lowry writes: The Terminator franchise shrewdly returns to its origins with "Terminator: Dark Fate," a fifth sequel to the 1984 sci-fi film (not counting a spinoff TV series). Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger play age-appropriate versions of their characters, in a movie that not only brings back Jim Cameron as a producer but also gives him story credit (along with several others), while circling back directly to the original and its rightfully admired sequel "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." Paramount is releasing the film, and should have a well-deserved hit on its hands...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
-- Henry Thomas, star of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," was arrested for an alleged DUI in Oregon. Thomas was a child actor when he became a breakout star in the iconic film...
-- Kim Kardashian West got a special birthday gift from Kanye -- $1 million donated to some of her favorite charities...
-- Nicki Minaj apparently married her boyfriend of less than a year, Kenneth Petty. We say "apparently" because last week she claimed to be making new music with Adele only to late say she was just being sarcastic...
-- Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash's demo of "Wanted Man" has been released and is pretty cool...
-- Marie Osmond says that as a child she thought she was gay because sexual abuse she had endured made her dislike men...
"Does Kevin Feige's Marvel Promotion Mean Ike Perlmutter's Endgame?"
Brian Lowry writes: Variety tries to unpack the shakeup at Marvel as Kevin Feige expands his turf, including the reported departure of Marvel TV chief Jeph Loeb, a producer and comics veteran whose efforts to produce superhero shows for TV budgets has yielded decidedly mixed results. Marvel, notably, seems to be turning away from that strategy, with several more ambitious projects -- featuring talent from its movies -- being turned into limited series for Disney+...
The "Star Wars" banner
One more item from Lowry: As for another major Disney franchise, THR's Richard Newby asks a good question: With Disney playing up "The Rise of Skywalker" in its latest trailer as the final chapter in the "Star Wars" saga, what does that mean for the company's efforts to market all the additional content planned under the "Star Wars" banner? As Lucasfilm has noted, there are infinite possibilities within that vast galaxy, but the direct link to the original trilogy does mark the end of an era...
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