Budding media mogul David Ellison finally took the reins of the “new Paramount” on Thursday – but quickly felt the heat after being grilled about any side deals made with President Trump to get the stalled merger across the finish line.
The Skydance CEO was at Paramount’s headquarters in Times Square to tout his vision as the new chief of the media giant.
But the 42-year-old tech scion turned red and stammered, and then refused to answer a question posed by The Post columnist Charlie Gasparino, who asked about the status of a reported $20 million in MAGA ads that Skydance agreed to run on top of Paramount’s $16 million settlement with President Trump.
Gasparino was first to report the so-called side agreement by Ellison’s legal team to run PSAs once Skydance took over the company.
It was later touted by Trump as an integral part of the multi-million settlement that involved alleged biased editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris during the heat of the 2024 presidential campaign.
“We were not involved in the settlement in any way,” Ellison said. When asked if that was a no comment, Ellison shrugged off the question and moved on to the Q&A with other journalists.
“I think you know, very clear that basically, we complied with all the laws, including the anti-bribery laws,” he added, citing Skydance’s July 29 reply to three US senators who had inquired about the company’s involvement with the Paramount-Trump settlement.
The CEO said they were focused on “driving the business forward” and “focusing on the future,” before he was asked again whether he had a deal with Trump to give him $20 million of advertising airtime.
“Look, we are not going to politicize anything today like that,” he said, before he began to stammer. “I’m not… I’m not going to do that today. You know, one of the things we’re really excited about, about this company, is that we actually make movies and tell stories, we believe that if you’re breathing, you’re our audience, and we want to entertain first, to entertain everyone.”
Ellison’s reticence came as sources told The Post the new company, called Paramount Skydance Corp., remains under FCC investigation over “woke” management policies and alleged bias at Paramount-owned CBS News.
FCC chair Brendan Carr, who signed off on the merger after intense scrutiny, looks to apply pressure on Ellison to make good on his promise to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and left-wing bias at CBS, sources close to the situation said.
The White House also wants Ellison to make good on promise to run the pro-MAGA public services ads, the sources added.
Ellison brushed off questions about whether Bari Weiss would join CBS News or whether the new company would acquire her start-up, The Free Press, after the two were reportedly spotted chatting it up at the Allen & Co. powwow in Sun Valley, Idaho, last month.
Prior to the merger getting the thumbs-up from the FCC, Skydance agreed to install an ombudsman at CBS News to review “complaints of bias or other concerns.”
Former NBCUniversal boss Jeff Shell, who takes over as president, said that the ombudsman is “meant to be a transparency vehicle.”
“We’re not being overseen by the FCC or anybody else,” Shell said. “But we do believe in transparency in the news division and frankly in every other business that we are in.”
The merger puts an end to media heiress Shari Redstone’s ties to a company forged by her late legendary father, Sumner Redstone.
As part of the deal, Larry Ellison, Skydance and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital purchased the Redstone family’s controlling 77% stake in Paramount Global through their company National Amusements.
Redstone will receive $180 million in severance and other benefits on top of her stock, and will exit the board of directors. Her 20% stake in National Amusements will reportedly fetch her about an additional $350 million.
Overall, Skydance agreed to fork over $2.4 billion for the Redstone family’s stake, $4.5 billion to non-NAI Paramount shareholders and an additional $1.5 billion in new capital to help pay down debt and recapitalize the company’s balance sheet, the company said.
“We embark on the exciting next chapter of this legendary company,” David Ellison said to kick off the press conference.
The new publicly traded company, which will be listed under the symbol PSKY, combines Paramount’s struggling legacy brands like CBS and MTV, its Paramount+ streaming service, and prized film and TV library, with Skydance’s production and technological capabilities.
Skydance Paramount will be restructured into three divisions: studios, direct-to-consumer and TV media.
“Moving forward, we will work with conviction and optimism to transform Paramount into a tech-forward company that blends the creative heart of Hollywood with the innovative spirit of Silicon Valley,” David Ellison told the assembled media.
Paramount had also faced heat after pulling the plug on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” days after the merger was approved.
The company said it will axe the show next May for financial reasons. The top-rated late-night program reportedly lost $50 million last year, The Post previously reported.
Meanwhile, Ellison said that he would stand by the embattled news division, which is home to last-place shows “CBS Mornings” and “CBS Evening News.”
“We’re obviously going to be fierce defenders of our talent,” Ellison said. “We always have been.”
He also gave a shout-out to “60 Minutes,” which he said has “a long tradition of impactful reporting led by seasoned journalists committed to accuracy, integrity and public trust.”
Shell said the company is having discussions with many news execs to come onboard after rumors swirled about Sky News executive chairman David Rhodes potentially joining the company and retaking his old job as CBS News president.
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