Paramount Investor Says Ellison-Trump Ties Are "Way Overstated"
Paramount board member Gerry Cardinale says talk of a close bond between chief executive David Ellison and US President Donald Trump has been "way overstated."
Cardinale spoke at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles. He was interviewed on stage by Bloomberg editor Lucas Shaw, according to Deadline.
Shaw pressed him on the perception that Ellison is close to the White House. Cardinale rejected it. He said the inference that Ellison is "cozy" with Trump is "not appropriate" and added, "there's nothing to it."
The questions did not come from nowhere. Trump had filed a lawsuit against CBS News, which Paramount owns. That case was settled for $16 million.
Ellison and others later visited Trump's Mar-a-Lago compound and courted him in Washington. Ellison and Paramount also hosted events for Trump around the White House Correspondents Association ceremony.
Other links have drawn attention. Ellison acquired The Free Press and installed its founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News. Paramount also holds a multi-billion-dollar rights deal, meaning a long-term agreement to show live fights, with UFC.
TKO Group is the parent company of UFC. Trump has attended UFC events, including one held at the White House. That White House spectacle streamed live on Paramount+.
Cardinale is both a Paramount board member and an investor. He is the founder of RedBird, which holds 22.5% of Paramount's voting rights, meaning power to vote on big company decisions.
In the same appearance, Cardinale backed Ellison's leadership. Bloomberg's live coverage of the 30 September event quoted him calling Ellison the "Future" of Hollywood, according to Bloomberg.
He also addressed deal talk. Cardinale said the majority of cost savings from a Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger would not come from jobs, meaning cuts to staff, according to TheWrap. Paramount had been poised to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
What makes this stand out is the list behind one short denial. For viewers, these ties shape who runs CBS News, who shows UFC fights and who might control an even larger studio library. Cardinale's message was simple. The contacts happened. A political alliance did not.
