The FCC has published the raw transcript of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris following Donald Trump’s claims of CBS commiting “election interference.” What’s behind the president’s attack on the network and how will that affect the ongoing Skydance-Paramount merger? Also, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni dive into the unfolding Emilia Pérez controversy.
A ‘Shari’s choice’? As the Skydance-Paramount merger continues, Shari Redstone faces a new hurdle in the form of settling a lawsuit from Donald Trump. “She needs to get paid what she sold this company for, so she wants to do whatever it takes to get this deal through,” Belloni explains. “Unfortunately, the administration is a very transactional administration, and if they don't want something, they're going to extract concessions to give you what you want. In this case, she seems to be thinking … that if they settle this lawsuit and give him what he wants, then they'll be able to get this deal through and approved by the various regulatory agencies that need to approve it.”
Check the tape? Trump’s allegations of tampering can be traced back to edits made to a Kamala Harrris interview answer as it appeared on two shows. “You have to edit these things for the platform they are on. If you're putting a teaser together for a morning show, it is different than what you are showing on the full broadcast.” Belloni clarifies. “So as CBS said in their statement, ‘the editing was done for the time and the constraints of the platform, not to alter the meaning of the answer that Kamala Harris gave.’”
El Mal? Following the reveal of racist and bigoted social media posts from Emilia Pérez actress Karla Sofía Gascón, Netflix is in damage control mode. “They're putting Jacques Audiard out there to say, ‘Well, yes, I disowned this person. However, it shouldn't impact my movie,’” says Belloni. “The other talent, Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez, are scheduled to make various appearances at awards events throughout the rest of the season. So we'll see what the Oscar voters think of this.”