Posted on 02/07/2023 9:21:08 AM PST by Red Badger
The National Enquirer, the gossip tabloid that became engulfed in a 2018 "catch and kill" scandal for burying news about the Trump campaign, is being sold by its owners to a digital publishing joint venture.
Why it matters: The sale marks the second time the publication has undergone ownership changes since its former publisher admitted to paying $150,000 in hush money to a Playboy model in an effort to bury a story about Trump's alleged affair with her.
Catch up quick: Following the "catch and kill" scandal, the Enquirer's former parent company American Media LLC, merged with Accelerate360 — a media distribution company — to create a new holding company called A360 Media.
David Pecker, the Enquirer's former publisher, in 2020 stepped down as CEO of American Media as part of the deal, and moved into an advisory role.
American Media LLC said it planned to sell the paper in 2019 when it was still its technical owner, but that deal fell through.
Details: The Enquirer's current owners say they've struck an agreement with a joint venture called VVIP Ventures to acquire both the U.S. and U.K. editions of the National Enquirer, the National Examiner and the Globe in an all-cash transaction for an undisclosed amount.
VVIP Ventures is a joint venture between Vinco Ventures Inc., a publicly traded digital media and tech company, and ICON Publishing, a limited liability company founded by Ted Farnsworth, a film producer and entrepreneur who was formerly chairman of the embattled movie subscription service MoviePass. Farnsworth was criminally charged with securities fraud last year.
The big picture: The Enquirer has been through a number of scandals in recent years.
The company was eventually fined $187,500 by the Federal Election Commission for Trump hush money payments.
It was accused of extortion and blackmail by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2019 for threatening to publish nude photos of Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez.
maybe the NYSlimes or the WashingtonCompost will buy it
to boost their reputations for honest reporting
He will become the new host of The View?
Bat Boy is Weekly World News, not Enquirer.
The freaky and the kooky, the mysterious and spooky,
the altogether OOKY stories are no longer the exclusive province of tabloids such as The Enquierer, Tattler or Weekly World News. There are several immitators available these days, starting with The New York Post.
To para-quote character Ivan Drago from Rocky IV:
“If they die, they die!”
100% and the WaPo combine
Oh, you're no fun anymore.
That’s Weekly World News. They’re still around.
Remember when CNN and WaPo had to pay Nick Sandmann millions for acting like shitty propagandizing filth? Does that qualify as scandal ridden?
It’ll all go the path of Mad Magazine. And by using less spell checks.
wy69
At least with People and US you can keep up with those wacky Kardashians!..............
Or National Lampoon..................
ELON MUSK!
Remake it to be an ANTI-WOKE tabloid.
You could have bought Newsweak for a dollar.
Chelsea’s baby pics?
Lampoon or harpoon with that crowd?
wy69
Batboy was my favorite.
"Mainstream" media outlets do that all the time.
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