Free Republic

The CBS News boss who signed off on the controversial ouster of Catherine Herridge — a respected Washington correspondent who has been embroiled in a high-profile First Amendment case — is nevertheless being honored with a free speech award next month. CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews was selected by Radio Television Digital News Association to be among 13 honorees at the 33rd annual First Amendment Awards at The Watergate Hotel in Washington DC on March 9. The irony was not lost ... “The RTDNA must be tone deaf to give Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews and CBS News an award for the First...

Twenty percent ($929 billion) of the $4.7 trillion of outstanding commercial mortgages held by lenders and investors will mature in 2024, a 28 percent increase from the $729 billion that matured in 2023 ... “The lack of transactions and other activity last year, coupled with built-in extension options and lender and servicer flexibility, has meant that many loans that were set to mature in 2023 have been extended or otherwise modified and will now mature in 2024, 2026, 2028 or in other coming years,” said Jamie Woodwell, Head of Commercial Real Estate Research at MBA. “These extensions and modifications have...

The subscription video-on-demand service's staff was let go, and the app will shutter later in the year.Noggin, Paramount Global‘s subscription video-on-demand service targeted at young kids, is shutting down. The platform is a casualty of a round of layoffs that saw 800 staffers across Paramount lose their jobs. CEO Bob Bakish said the layoffs are part of “streamlining costs” at the conglomerate. Noggin’s entire staff is among the 800 layoffs. The app will stop taking on new subscribers and will shutter sometime later this year, as first reported by trade publication Kidscreen. Noggin features a library of educational games, books...

Several CBS News reporters were caught up in layoffs at Paramount Global that claimed 800 jobs, including one who is embroiled in a high-stakes First Amendment fight — and another who has reportedly weathered HR probes over his workplace behavior, The Post has learned.Catherine Herridge — an award-winning senior correspondent whose First Amendment case is being closely watched by journalists nationwide — was among the hundreds of employees at CBS parent Paramount who got pink slips on Tuesday, sources told The Post.

Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, is planning to cut hundreds of jobs just days after airing the most-watched Super Bowl in history, according to Tuesday reports. The job cuts will result in a reduction of the company’s workforce by about 3 percent, The Guardian reported, noting staff had been notified on the decision on Tuesday. “To those with whom we are parting ways, we are incredibly grateful for your hard work and dedication,” Bob Bakish, Paramount’s top executive wrote in an internal memo obtained by the outlet. “Your talents have helped us advance our mission of unleashing the...

CEO Bob Bakish announced layoffs at the media company Thursday, citing a need to “operate as a leaner company and spend less.” “Our priority is to drive earnings growth. And we’ll get there by growing our revenue while closely managing costs — a balance that will require every team, division and brand to be aligned,” Bakish said in a memo to employees.

Paramount Global — the parent company off CBS, Paramount Pictures, Showtime, and numerous other media properties — is reportedly set to lay off “hundreds” of employees across nearly all of its divisions. The impending cuts represent the latest Hollywood bloodbath following layoffs at other corporations, including Disney, NBCUniversal, Amazon MGM Studios, and Universal Music Group. Hollywood is feeling the squeeze on multiple fronts. Households continue to cut the cord by the millions while the advertising market is still in the doldrums due to poor consumer sentiment tied to President Joe Biden’s economic policies. Meanwhile, consumers are cutting back on discretionary...

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish on Tuesday in New York City to discuss a possible merger, Axios has learned from multiple sources. Why it matters: The combination would create a news and entertainment behemoth that would likely trigger further industry consolidation. Zaslav also has spoken to Shari Redstone, who owns Paramount's parent company, about a deal. WBD's market value was around $29 billion as of Wednesday, while Paramount's was just over $10 billion, so any merger would not be of equals. Details: The meeting between Zaslav and Bakish, which sources say lasted...

Actor Kelsey Grammer said in a recent interview that he still supports former President Donald Trump. But Paramount, the studio behind his new Frasier reboot, reportedly cut the interview short before the actor could elaborate. Kelsey Grammer was speaking to the BBC Radio 4 about the new Frasier series, which streams on Paramount+. During the interview, BBC Radio 4 host Justin Webb asked Grammer if he was still a Trump supporter. “I am and I’ll let that be the end of it,” the Emmy-winning star replied. Grammer’s comment comes at the very end of the six-minute radio segment.

A New York attorney has filed a bizarre lawsuit accusing Ben Affleck and Matt Damon of stalking and harassing her to use private details of her life in their work by bugging her home. Court documents obtained by DailyMail.com accuse Affleck and Damon of not only bugging the woman’s home but also hacking her devices, leaving her in fear she would be raped or kidnapped. The lawsuit claims that her identity and personal experiences were used to develop SNL skits at the time Affleck was dating a producer Lindsay Shookus, and as well as in films produced by Harvey Weinstein....

Star Trek actor LeVar Burton threatens VIOLENCE against parental rights group Moms for Liberty “Moms for Liberty? No? Good. Then hands will not need to be thrown tonight.” The 66-year-old actor also discussed the group during a recent interview with Esquire, rejoicing that “hardly any candidates backed by Moms for Liberty won their races” during the 2023 election cycle. He added, “These are people who would rather children not know the truth. Those kids will never know what they’re missing, but it’s our job to stand up for them, to be their voices and their advocates. That’s what being an...

The TV studio Desilu was founded in 1950 by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, which you can probably tell by the name. The famous performing couple initially pitched a TV adaptation of the marriage-based radio sitcom "My Favorite Husband" to the execs at CBS, but that show eventually mutated into "I Love Lucy," more explicitly sold as a vehicle for Ball. To this day, "I Love Lucy" remains one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, and every modern comedy show contains traces of its DNA. The series ran for 180 episodes over six seasons, ending its run in...

We live in interesting times. The old media giants are just money-losing properties out of phase with a new arrangement in which networks, free and cable, are being replaced with streaming subscription packages. When Discovery found it had CNN on its hands, it tried to clean house because the cable news network is an unwanted drain. But an even bigger legacy name in news may be circling the drain. Think Cronkite and Rather. Equity analyst Steven Cahall of bank Wells Fargo gives Paramount Corp. another “1-2 years” of throwing “good money… after bad,” chasing a streaming profit that may never...

The Paramount+ series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies has been canceled after just one season, making it the latest woke TV show to fall flat with audiences. To add insult to injury, Paramount+ will remove the series from its platform, effectively erasing any trace of its existence. The cost-saving decision — the studio will presumably reap tax benefits while also saving on residuals and administrative expenses — is an indication of just how few people were streaming the show. Pink Ladies creator Annabel Oakes posted a desperate message to her Instagram Stories Friday, blasting the studio’s decision. “In a...

"RuPaul's Drag Race" star Jinkx Monsoon doubled down on her denouncement of the Republican-led legislative push to restrict drag performances, in an interview that aired Friday on MSNBC's "The 11th Hour With Stephanie Ruhle." “What I want to say to the people trying to oppress my community right now, is look what’s happened every time you’ve tried to oppress a community in America,” Monsoon told Ruhle. “You tried to oppress women, women got the vote. You tried to oppress people of color, we’re not accepting that anymore.” She added, "We’re not accepting that some citizens just have to sit on...

Justin Trudeau is swinging by the “werkroom” on an upcoming spinoff of Canada’s Drag Race. Producers of the drag queen competition series say the Prime Minister will make a special appearance on Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs. the World. He’s the first world leader to visit the RuPaul-founded competition series, which has more than a dozen global spinoffs in countries including Sweden, Australia, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

RuPaul, the face of the “Drag Race” franchise, has responded to the recent wave of anti-drag and anti-trans legislation introduced by Republican lawmakers in the U.S. In an Instagram video on Wednesday, the Emmy winner called the bills “a classic distraction technique” and urged Americans to register to vote. “Hey, look over there! A classic distraction technique, distracting us away from the real issues that they were voted into office to focus on: jobs, healthcare, keeping our children safe from harm at their own school,” RuPaul said. “But we know that bullies are incompetent at solving real issues. They look...

Star Trek Discovery Is Cancelled And Fans Are Divided Star Trek Discovery is being cancelled after its fifth season, and the reaction from fans shows that its place in the franchise is uncertain. By Rhiannon Bevan Published 2 days ago After a six-year run, it's official: Paramount is pulling the plug on Star Trek Discovery. This isn't quite enough to make it the shortest-running mainline Trek series - that "honour" goes to Star Trek Enterprise - but it is a far more abrupt end than most. So unsurprisingly, fans are divided on both the show, and the decision to...

Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, who starred in 1968's Romeo and Juliet, filed a lawsuit against Paramount for child abuse over a nude scene in the film. Per Deadline, Hussey and Whiting filed the lawsuit in Santa Monica Superior Court on Jan. 3, accusing Paramount of sexual exploitation and the distribution of nude images of underage children. Now in their 70s, both actors were teenagers at the time they starred in the film; Hussey, who played Juliet, was 15 and Whiting, who played Romeo, was 16. The actors are seeking damages of over $100 million. "believed to be in excess...

Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 @JackPosobiec Paramount Ends ‘The Good Fight’ With Gay Character Based On Milo Yiannopoulos Accusing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Of Sexual Assault 8:26 PM · Nov 11, 2022