Donald Trump claims that the new owners of Paramount have assured him $20 million in free advertising. Is this accurate?
So far, reporters haven’t had the opportunity to directly question the new owner of Paramount. However, at a recent press conference at Paramount’s Manhattan headquarters, David Ellison, the owner, neither confirmed nor denied Trump’s statement.
“We are not going to politicize anything today,” Ellison remarked, referencing a prior non-denial regarding Trump’s assertion about advertising from Skydance Media, which he had previously provided to U.S. lawmakers.
Adding to the conversation, Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed head of the Federal Communications Commission, mentioned that the new Paramount owners promised to address the perceived bias undermining trust in national news media. However, reporters were left without any concrete examples of how this bias at CBS would be rectified.
Ellison maintained his stance, expressing reluctance to discuss political matters. “I do not want to politicize our company in any way, shape, or form,” he stated when asked about the company’s agreement with the FCC.
It appears Ellison and Shari Redstone, who sold the company, made several concessions to finalize the acquisition, including a $16 million allocation for Trump’s future presidential library. Despite these concessions, Ellison and his team have refrained from commenting publicly.
On Thursday, Ellison expressed a desire to move beyond “the noise.” Yet, this may be an unrealistic goal, given the ongoing scrutiny from lawmakers and others concerned about the influence of Trump and his administration.
Ellison finds himself in a tricky position: confirming Trump’s claim could provoke backlash from employees and audiences, while denying it risks angering a figure known for influencing corporate leaders.
Amid similar political pressures faced by various corporate leaders, Ellison’s reluctance to engage in this discourse only fuels the ongoing questions regarding the new ownership’s motives and actions in the wake of the acquisition.