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David Pecker, Media Survivor, is OUT At National Enquirer Parent Company After Sale and Merger to N95 Mask Maker

Roger Friedman
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David Pecker, Media Survivor, is OUT At National Enquirer Parent Company After Sale and Merger to N95 Mask Maker

According to reports, David Pecker is out as the longtime head of American Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer.

Pecker was a media survivor, getting American Media through dozens of financial disasters, always somehow raising money at the last minute to keep everything afloat.

But the Chatham Assets fund that owns American Media has sold it as they take over McClatchy Newspapers from bankruptcy.

In the end, Pecker’s lunatic fealty to Donald Trump did him in.

“This is a transformative event that significantly reshapes Accelerate and American Media into a new type of media and marketing company with an unprecedented reach all the way to the sales floor,” claimed a press release issued late Friday by Georgia-based marketing executive David Parry, the CEO of Accelerate360, LLC, the new owner.

American Media was hobbled in the end by two episodes that did them in. One was the expose of Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon, and his extramarital affair. The second was participating in “catch and kill” stories while supporting Donald Trump in his first presidential election. That whole adventure is what sent Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to jail and revealed the Stormy Daniels affair.

I’m surprised that Pecker let go in this deal, but I guess he had to. The Enquirer was just about dead, as were its sister publications like Radar Online, Star, and Globe. The only functioning part of AMI, which will now be called A360 Media, is US Magazine, which Pecker bought from Jann Wenner in a fire sale. I’m not sure why Accelerate, which makes masks and other protective equipment.

The press release announcing the changes doesn’t even mention the Enquirer, just Us Weekly, Life & Style, OK!, and Men’s Journal. It also doesn’t mention that Chatham owns a large part of A360.

Mr. Pecker, 68, will serve as an executive adviser to the new company. “Pecker is effectively out,” says a source. Chris Scardino, who’s been with AMI for a long time, will take over.

Here’s the press release:

SMYRNA, Ga., Aug. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Board of Managers of American Media, LLC’s holding company have made the strategic decision to combine American Media and Accelerate360, LLC (Accelerate).  The announcement was made by Accelerate CEO David Parry. As part of the consolidation, American Media will be renamed A360 Media and American Media President and CEO, David J. Pecker has been named Executive Advisor of A360 Media effective immediately.

“This is a transformative event that significantly reshapes Accelerate and American Media into a new type of media and marketing company with an unprecedented reach all the way to the sales floor,” said Mr. Parry.

Mr. Parry also announced that Chris Scardino has been named President of A360 Media. Mr. Scardino, previously Executive Vice President and Group Publisher, is an 18-year veteran of American Media.

“A360 Media will be unlike anything the industry has seen with an ability to create direct access to consumers for our more than 2,300 active advertising partners,” said Mr. Scardino. “I am excited to work closely with the innovative team at Accelerate and how we can leverage their insights from recent success with LifeToGo and their unparalleled marketing insights and analytics for our brands and partners.”

A360 Media delivers extraordinary scale reaching more than 47 million men and women each month with the company’s celebrity magazines, including Us Weekly, Life & Style, and OK!, delivering the #1 market share in the category. The brand’s digital properties reach more than 60 million unique visitors monthly with more than 54 million social media fans & followers.

In addition to A360 Media, Accelerate’s core businesses also include Accelerate360 which provides logistics, sales and distribution solutions for both retailers and brands including a BTB wholesale platform for retailers to discover and purchase products, and LifeToGo, its ecommerce and direct-to-consumer marketplace.  Accelerate recently launched a successful line of Personal Protection Equipment that includes hand sanitizer, gloves, disinfectant wipes, cloth and disposable face masks, PPE safety packs and immunity boosting supplements under the LifeToGo brand. Accelerate also manages merchandising programs, featuring more than 600 SKUs in general merchandise and health and wellness, for national and regional grocers, and is the largest periodical distributor in North America delivering magazines to more than 55,000 retail locations weekly.

Synergies among the companies have already begun by leveraging A360 Media platform to build awareness and drive revenue of both LifeToGo products and other Accelerate supplier partners by utilizing advertising and marketing programs featuring products across A360 Media brands including Us Weekly, Life & Style, and Men’s Journal.

A360 Media will remain based in New York with some operations and shared services moving to Accelerate’s headquarters in Georgia.

 

Postponed: Tonight’s All Star Virtual Reading of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” with Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn

Roger Friedman
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Postponed: Tonight’s All Star Virtual Reading of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” with Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn

Yesterday at this hour we got a press release saying John Legend and Ray Liotta had joined the all star virutal reading of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” set for tonight.

Now, it’s cancelled, or postponed. There was a big build up, a lot of hype, and pfft.

Oh well.

The cast was supposed to include Jennifer Aniston, Dane Cook, Morgan Freeman, Henry Golding, Jimmy Kimmel, Shia LaBeouf, Matthew McConaughey, Sean Penn, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. Comic Dane Cook was “presenting” it, which who knows what that means.

Money was going to be raised for Sean Penn’s CORE Foundation, which used to be the J/P Haiti charity and has now pivoted to do work on COVID.

No one knew who was playing which part, but I thought Penn — originally Jeff Spicoli — would play the Ray Walston part. McConaughey would have made a great Spicoli.

CORE is described as “the humanitarian organization co-founded by Sean Penn and CEO Ann Lee, currently on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19 providing testing and relief services in the United States; and the REFORM Alliance, which is focused on passing laws to reform the criminal justice system and protecting the incarcerated population from the spread of COVID-19.”

In a statement, Dane Cook said: “We want to deliver the absolute best night of entertainment possible and raise money for two incredible organizations. The technical issues were insurmountable. Class will be back in session soon!!”

Listen, these people should either call Erich Bergen, who’s done great shows on Zoom, or Richard and Demi Weitz. They do these massive Quarantunes fundraisers every week with blood, sweat, and tears that we don’t see. They have the biggest stars and have raised nearly $8 million for charities.

Lori Loughlin aka Aunt Becky Gets 2 Months in Prison, But She’ll Get Out Early, and Then Enough’s Enough

Roger Friedman
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Lori Loughlin aka Aunt Becky Gets 2 Months in Prison, But She’ll Get Out Early, and Then Enough’s Enough

OK, really, enough’s enough.

Lori Loughlin, aka Aunt Becky from “Full House,” made a plea deal today with the US government in Boston. She’ll get two months in prison and has to pay a $150,000 fine.

Her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, was sentenced to five months in prison after a federal judge accepted his plea deal with prosecutors.

They’ll each get out earlier than that, of course. And then, please, let’s move on.

Loughlin does not deserve to be blacklisted for the rest of her life because of the college admissions scandal. She’s a welcome presence on the Hallmark channel and other mundane theatricals.

Felicity Huffman, who’s already paid her fine and served her time, ditto. And she’s too fine an actress to have her career destroyed. Nothing that was done by these people requires this kind of lifelong drubbing. They made mistakes, they’re doing their time.

Really. Don’t we have bigger problems? Let’s forgive, forget and move on already!

UPDATED Reviews for Christopher Nolan’s Hyped, Postponed “Tenet,” With Words Like “Jigsaw Puzzle,” “Magnificent,” and “Huh?”

Roger Friedman
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UPDATED Reviews for Christopher Nolan’s Hyped, Postponed “Tenet,” With Words Like “Jigsaw Puzzle,” “Magnificent,” and “Huh?”

UPDATE: The reviews came in at noon EST.  With 32 reviews in, which isn’t a lot, Rotten Tomatoes has “Tenet” at 88%. So far, so good. As I predicted, most talk about the convoluted plot vs. the great look and feel of the film. Leslie Felperin of the Hollywood Reporter says: “Altogether, it makes for a chilly, cerebral film – easy to admire, especially since it’s so rich in audacity and originality, but almost impossible to love, lacking as it is in a certain humanity.”

Variety:” a big, brashly beautiful, grandiosely enjoyable one that will provide succor to audiences long-starved for escapist spectacle on this beefy, made-for-Imax scale. The sheer meticulousness of Nolan’s grand-canvas action aesthetic is enthralling, as if to compensate for the stray loose threads and teasing paradoxes of his screenplay — or perhaps simply to underline that they don’t matter all that much. “Tenet” is no holy grail, but for all its stern, solemn posing, it’s dizzy, expensive, bang-up entertainment of both the old and new school. Right now, as it belatedly crashes a dormant global release calendar, it seems something of a time inversion in itself.”

NYTimes: “Tenet” dazzles the senses, but it does not move the heart — a criticism common to all of Nolan’s original films…But it’s not just lack of heart that holds “Tenet” back. Nolan imagines impossible technologies but won’t explore their deeper implications. ”

Me? I want to see it. If I can just figure out how.

EARLIER “Tenet” is not an easy word to remember, or say. It sounds like “tenant.” And no one knows what it means.

But that’s the title of Christopher Nolan’s new movie starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Kenneth Branagh and Elizabeth Debicki. It’s been postponed several times because of the coronavirus. Nolan only wants it released in theatres, no streaming. But theaters are closed in much of the US, especially key movie going states like New York and California.

So “Tenet” — which will now open next week internationally and then September 3rd in the US– has been screened for press everywhere but here. Warner Bros. is almost giddily happy about that. The feeling is European reviewers, especially British ones, will be more enthusiastic than Americans. The former don’t mind lots of unexplained, dreamy stuff in their films. Americans like concrete answers to what the heck is going on.

The reviews will break today at noon eastern time. Early comments have ranged from magnificent to huh?

What I’ve been told is that it’s fairly important to re-watch Nolan’s 2010 dream-a-thon “Inception.” The new movie is not exactly a sequel, but according to spies, has motifs and themes that are connected to “Tenet.” So Warners is re-releasing “Inception” now, where it can, and encouraging audiences to get in those theaters.

We can’t do that either in New York so this weekend I’ll have a home “Inception” sit down. I want to be ready when “Tenet” arrives near me, if ever.

As for the noon reviews from across the Atlantic: beautiful cinematography, gorgeous set pieces. We’re going to see the words “jigsaw puzzle” a lot. The movie is apparently like one the audience has to assemble. I’ve also been told that upfront Washington — if you’re paying attention — explains. And the meaning of the movie is explained again toward the end. And Branagh is a bad guy.

Yes, we must pay attention. “You can’t fall asleep in this movie,” a spy joked.

The clock ticks toward noon.

 

Cardi B’s “WAP” Filthy, Porn, Over the Top, Streams 1 Million in Sales in 2 Weeks, Scandal of the Summer

Roger Friedman
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Cardi B’s “WAP” Filthy, Porn, Over the Top, Streams 1 Million in Sales in 2 Weeks, Scandal of the Summer

There has never been anything dirtier than Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP.” I can’t even tell you what the letters stand for. Look it up. You’re going to say, Whattttt?????

This is beyond even Chuck Berry’s “My Ding-a-Ling,” which zipped up the charts in 1972 because it was “banned” on radio. Trust me, the real version of “WAP” isn’t being played on any station the FCC monitors.

It’s porn, yes. It’s gross, gratuitous, crass, coarse, and every negative thing you can say or think. But you know, someone is buying it.

“WAP” has streamed enough to the equivalent of 1 million in sales. Actual sales are 91,300. Let’s face it, “WAP” is not something you want to own on your phone. It’s the ultimate NSFW, not safe for work. But stream? Over and over, apparently.

But somehow it all makes sense, doesn’t it? “WAP” is the lowest we could go in “music.” And we’re at the lowest point of our culture right now. Empowering? No. That’s ridiculous. It’s just outrageousness for its own sake.

 Here’s the clean version. You want dirty? Just go to YouTube.

Wild, Anti-Semitic, and In? Nick Cannon’s PR Parade to “Forgiveness” for Anti-Semitic Talk In Full Bloom

Roger Friedman
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Wild, Anti-Semitic, and In? Nick Cannon’s PR Parade to “Forgiveness” for Anti-Semitic Talk In Full Bloom

Nick Cannon really wants to get back in, ASAP.

One day he was calling Jews names on his YouTube channel, the next day he was chatting with rabbi’s.

One day he was fired by Viacom from all his MTV/VH-1 and Nickelodeon duties. The next day? A prop-up story in Variety with positive quotes from Chris McCarthy, president of entertainment and youth brands at ViacomCBS.

Wow.

It’s unclear, of course, if McCarthy spoke to Shari Redstone, the owner of Viacom, since her father just died. Shari ordered Cannon’s firing. Maybe he didn’t realize that Redstone’s first husband, the father of her children, was a rabbi. She’s really Jewish. No kidding.

On the podcast, Cannon — interviewing a former member of Public Enemy who was fired himself for anti Semitic comments — endorsed many anti-Semitic tropes and backed anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. And not for the first time. He called Blacks the “real Hebrews” and white people “Savages.”

He said on the podcast: “They had to be savages, they had to be barbaric, because they’re in these Nordic mountains, they’re in these rough environments, so they’re acting as animals,” he said. “So they are the ones that are actually closer to animals, they are the ones that are actually the true savages.”

Well, that was a month ago. Immediately after the news broke that Viacom had obliterated a big part of his career and income earning, Cannon went on an apology campaign. He enlisted Madonna’s manager, Guy Oseary, and crisis managers. A scheduled syndicated TV show, produced by people who happen to be Jewish, was postponed. Cannon narrowly hung on to his hosting job with “The Masked Singer,” but of course, that’s at Fox, where there are no standards too low.

The next guests we saw on the “Cannon’s Class” podcast were rabbis from the Wiesenthal Center. Nick dressed in a bright red hooded outfit, looking like Aladdin. Clearly there were unseen hands in the background, pushing to save Nick’s career and the money that had been invested in him.

And now: is all forgiven? Someone is pushing this in the trade press. When the McCarthy story surfaced tonight, you could hear the sound of conference calls. Will Shari Redstone just say ‘all is forgiven’? Something tells me she won’t be so quick to acquiesce to McCarthy and Viacom execs who want Nick back, pronto. This will be quite instructive.

But in one month did Nick Cannon change his whole point of view? The same Nick Cannon who said the next day — while his career was burning down– that he was going to sue Viacom for ownership of “Wild n Out” even though he’d sold it to them a long time before?

Read McCarthy’s statement, as reported by Variety. Wow, the push is on to make this all go away. But a lot of us are not going to forget. But you can tell, there are forces that really, really want to sweep this all away.

“Let me start with stating the important and hopefully obvious fact – what Nick said was wrong, hurtful, and it was offensive. We have to stand up for our values – clear and simple. Hate against one of us is hate against any of us and Nick’s comments were anti-Semitic. So, we needed to stand up to that and we did that which was the right thing to do.

“I don’t know if anyone has been following Nick’s journey since the incident – I have, and the thing that’s unique about Nick – different from many others, is that Nick owned it. He apologized, he said it was wrong. He has since been on a journey of learning and understanding, and more importantly, he is using his voice to help educate other people and is becoming an advocate on this issue. This is consistent with the Nick I’ve known for ten years.

“As I look back on all of this, I regret that we didn’t have our new “Cultural Code” built sooner. It’s a shame that it took an incident like this for us to take a step back and have a clear process in place to address issues like this. Part of that came from when I asked myself – ‘what could we have done that would have made it better or what can we do to prevent this from happening in the future?’

“I struggle with the fact that Nick, a longtime partner and friend of ours, is on this journey and we’re not part of that journey. And that’s honestly where the our new ‘Cultural Code’ came from and bringing in social justice partners so we all have the base-level education. And, if I could change anything, I would have asked us to build that two years ago.”

McCarthy later continued:

“We’re in the content business and we all understand the power of telling stories. The gift that we have as storytellers is to transport audiences into new worlds and experiences – enabling them to walk in someone else’s shoes. And when we do this well, we can give the gift empathy and understanding. And we do this all the time, as we will see from the upcoming video. And we have been doing it for years, from the early days of Real World, to 16 and Pregnant, to what Trevor (Noah) does every day. We help other people understand the world we live in. And we need to step up even more.

“So, when I take a step back, I am hopeful. I am hopeful we find a way to bring these two things together and hopefully we will have the opportunity to do that with Nick again.”

 

I Started a Joke But It Came True: Susan B. Anthony (Museum) Rejects Donald Trump’s Presidential Pardon

Roger Friedman
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I Started a Joke But It Came True: Susan B. Anthony (Museum) Rejects Donald Trump’s Presidential Pardon

When Donald Trump announced he was pardoning suffragette Susan B. Anthony, I laughed, actually did a spit take. I wrote on Twitter a few times, tongue in cheek, that I’d interviewed Susan and she declined the pardon. Haha.

Now it’s come true! The Susan B. Anthony Museum has rejected the pardon on behalf of Susan, who is out of town. Permanently. Good for them.

Here’s the statement:

[Susan B.} Anthony wrote in her diary in 1873 that her trial for voting was “The greatest outrage History ever witnessed.”  She was not allowed to speak as a witness in her own defense, because she was a woman. At the conclusion of arguments, Judge Hunt dismissed the jury and pronounced her guilty.  She was outraged to be denied a trial by jury. She proclaimed, “I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty.” To pay would have been to validate the proceedings. To pardon Susan B. Anthony does the same.

If one wants to honor Susan B. Anthony today, a clear stance against any form of voter suppression would be welcome. Enforcement and expansion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 would be celebrated, we must assure that states respect the 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments to the United States Constitution. Support for the Equal Rights Amendment would be well received. Advocacy for human rights for all would be splendid. Anthony was also a strong proponent of sex education, fair labor practices, excellent public education, equal pay for equal work, and elimination of all forms of discrimination.

As the National Historic Landmark and Museum that has been interpreting her life and work for seventy-five years, we would be delighted to share more.

Deborah L. Hughes
President & CEO
The National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House

Trump Henchman Steve Bannon, Others, Indicted for Fraud: Charged with Taking Money for Building Infamous Mexican Wall

Roger Friedman
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Trump Henchman Steve Bannon, Others, Indicted for Fraud: Charged with Taking Money for Building Infamous Mexican Wall

Steven Bannon — Donald Trump’s main henchman and lackey, architect of some of the most chilling and egregious ideas of the last four years — has been indicted in a massive fraud case by the US government.

Bannon and other defendants are accused of soliciting and accepting millions for the building of the infamous US-Mexico border wall, and then pocketing the money.

They have been arrested and will be arraigned this afternoon. Bannon’s arraignment is  in New York.

Their fake non profit, a website called We Build the Wall, shows among their leaders Bannon, Betsy DeVos’s brother Erik Prince, Kris Kobach, “Sheriff” David Alexander Clarke Jr (the quotation marks are theirs, not mine).

The people actually indicted are Bannon, Brian Kolfage,  Andrew Badaloto, and Timothy Shea. But really indicted is Trump because these are his people, all of them, and the government says they stole millions from unsuspecting people.

Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Philip R. Bartlett, Inspector-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the United States Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), announced the unsealing of an indictment.

What’s interesting is that Strauss replaced Geoffrey Berman, whom Trump fired. Was Berman on the verge of these indictments when Trump gave him the boot? Did Trump think getting rid of Berman would save his people? Strauss has been unflinching in continuing the US Attorney’s work. Bravo to her and her staff.

Strauss said in a statement: “As alleged, the defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction. While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage, the founder and public face of We Build the Wall, would not be paid a cent, the defendants secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle. We thank the USPIS for their partnership in investigating this case, and we remain dedicated to rooting out and prosecuting fraud wherever we find it.”

You can read the indictment here.

 

 

Is it 1966? Mick Jagger, Rolling Stones Bucking Retail Trend, Opening Brick and Mortar Store in Carnaby Street, London

Roger Friedman
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Is it 1966? Mick Jagger, Rolling Stones Bucking Retail Trend, Opening Brick and Mortar Store in Carnaby Street, London

Two things come to mind when you hear the Rolling Stones are opening a boutique in Carnaby Street, London: is it 1966? Do they know they realize no one shops in brick and mortar stores? Also, there’s a pandemic?

Alas, even so, Mick Jagger and co are about to start selling “pieces for fans of all ages, including men’s, women’s and children’s fashion and accessories. A special glassware has been developed with Baccarat engraved with the Rolling Stones tongue. The store will feature chairs and scarves from The Soloist, and raincoats and hats from premium Swedish raincoat brand Stutterheim.”

Basically, anything they can stamp the famous tongue logo on, with a special Pantone color red. This will be a tie in to the reissue of “Goats Head Soup” from 1973 with a new song called “Scarlett.”

Um, Mick, the Beatles tried this in 1968. But merch is merch, no matter what year it is! Start them up– I mean, the cash registers!

The new store, created in partnership with Bravado, Universal Music Group’s merchandise and brand management company, will feature all the hallmarks of the iconic band and include exclusive new fashion and merchandise under the ‘RS No. 9 Carnaby’ brand available in-store and online beginning 9 September 2020.

And this won’t be the only store. It’s described as the “flagship.” So brace yourselves for a Stones store coming to your mall, or what’s left of it.

 

If You Believe: Cher– Yes, Cher — Volunteers to Work at the Malibu Post Office, But Is Turned Down

Roger Friedman
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If You Believe: Cher– Yes, Cher — Volunteers to Work at the Malibu Post Office, But Is Turned Down

Cher– yes, that Cher — is a patriot down to her million dollar manicure. She’s no Dark Lady. She revealed on Twitter today that she volunteered to work at the Malibu Post Office in light of all the cutbacks at the USPS. She wants to make sure all the ballots are counted!

She wrote:

“OK,Called 2 post offices In Malibu.They were polite.
I Said”Hi This Is Cher,& I Would like to know If you ever take Volunteers
Exclamation question mark
Lady Said She Didn’t Know & Gave Me # Of Supervisor.I Called & Said Hi This is Cher Do U Accept volunteers.”NO,Need
Fingerprints & Background Check”
Emoji: Disappointed but relieved face”

Well, she could do show for them. I bet they’d like that! PS You have to love her.

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