All posts tagged: Ellison

Judge Quashes “Blatantly Unlawful” DOJ Subpoenas Targeting Walz And Ellison In ICE-Obstruction Case

Judge Quashes “Blatantly Unlawful” DOJ Subpoenas Targeting Walz And Ellison In ICE-Obstruction Case

Published by Jenni Sidey

A federal judge has quashed six DOJ grand jury subpoenas issued to Minnesota officials, including Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties. US District Judge Patrick J. Schlitz ruled that the subpoenas amounted to harassment, and said that the Justice Department inquiry into whether Minnesota officials obstructed or impeded law enforcement is illegitimate.  “Initiating a criminal investigation in order to harass political opponents or to coerce them into taking official action, particularly official action that the federal government cannot directly require those political opponents to take, is a blatantly unlawful and unethical use [of] the grand-jury process,” Schlitz wrote in his ruling.  Tensions between the Trump administration and Minnesota’s Democratic leadership came to a boiling point in January amid clashes between federal immigration enforcement officers and protesters in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Area, which included the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, social justice warriors who paid the ultimate price. The DOJ told the Epoch Times in an email that “The Department takes the unlawful obstruction …

How David Ellison is confronting a Hollywood image problem

How David Ellison is confronting a Hollywood image problem

Published by Sam Flores

A year ago, David Ellison was viewed as a white knight poised to save Paramount. Hollywood embraced billionaire Larry Ellison’s son, figuring he had the means and the mettle to revive the faded studio after decades of neglect. But now, as the 43-year-old tech scion works to close his $111-billion deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery — which would mark his second major studio acquisition in less than a year — a large swath of Hollywood has soured on the budding mogul and his audacious bid to build a new media colossus. More than 5,000 artists and industry workers — including J.J. Abrams, Javier Bardem, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kevin Bacon and Tiffany Haddish — have signed an open letter opposing the union of two century-old studios. “Our industry is already under severe strain,” the group wrote. Many anticipate the U.S. Justice Department will rubber-stamp the deal because President Trump is friendly with Larry Ellison, co-founder of software giant Oracle. Trump and his team want David Ellison to make sweeping changes at CNN, one of Warner Bros. …

David Ellison Held Dinner Party ‘Honoring’ Trump

David Ellison Held Dinner Party ‘Honoring’ Trump

Published by Daniella Wilson

David Ellison held an event at the at the U.S. Institute of Peace on Thursday in honor of Donald Trump, where the president reportedly spoke to guests for nearly an hour. According to a Friday report by The Times, CBS News executives and journalists were in attendance, including Bari Weiss and Norah O’Donnell. The acting attorney general Todd Blanche was also present; the Justice Department, which Blanche oversees, still has to approve Paramount‘s $110 billion megadeal for Warner Bros. Discovery. Invitations for Thursday’s event, that were given out by Paramount and named Ellison as host, described the night as “honoring the Trump White House.” WBD shareholders approved Ellison’s impending Paramount merger on Tuesday, inching the deal closer to being completed. Trump gave remarks at the dinner for almost an hour, The Times reported, where Paramount’s chief legal officer Makan Delrahim; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller were all also in attendance. Anonymous CBS News journalists told The Times they were “taken aback” by the dinner, and worried it …

David Ellison Won’t Appear at Senate Hearing Due to a Death in Family

David Ellison Won’t Appear at Senate Hearing Due to a Death in Family

Published by Daniella Wilson

A Senate hearing over Paramount‘s blockbuster $111 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery will move forward without the sale’s primary player David Ellison. The mogul’s Paramount policy team informed Sen. Cory Booker, the top Democrat on the Senate antitrust subcommittee, that Ellison won’t be able to attend the Washington, D.C. hearing due to an undisclosed death in the family. “Regretfully, Mr. Ellison is unable to be in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, as he is attending a funeral due to a death in the family,” Paramount policy exec Ted Lehman wrote in a reply to Booker. A studio rep declined to elaborate on the circumstances of that funeral. Lehman added, “As discussed in person with you earlier this year and in our written statement to the Antitrust Subcommittee at your request, our view on the proposed Paramount Skydance/Warner Bros. Discovery deal is quite straight forward: We believe the transaction should be reviewed on the merits. And on the merits, the transaction is procompetitive.” In a letter sent on Monday to the Paramount mogul, Booker had …

Paramount Enlists Ellison Advisor to Handle Jeff Shell’s Legal Drama

Paramount Enlists Ellison Advisor to Handle Jeff Shell’s Legal Drama

Published by Daniella Wilson

A legal fight is taking shape between Paramount and the high-stakes gambler who sparked an internal investigation and SEC inquiry into whether company president Jeff Shell prematurely disclosed details of a $7.7 billion UFC media rights deal. At the heart of the matter: An allegation that the studio and Shell reneged on an agreement to pick up an English-language format of a Roku reality show the gambler, R.J. Cipriani, co-created and exec produced. A lawsuit hasn’t been filed, though Paramount is lawyering up. Blair Connelly, a longtime, do-it-all outside advisor to David Ellison, has stepped in after Cipriani presented the company with a lawsuit advancing breach of oral contract and fraudulent misrepresentation claims, among others, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Paramount chief legal officer Makan Delrahim was previously a partner at Connelly’s firm, Latham & Watkins. The litigation threat has imperiled Shell’s return to the C-suite following his termination from his prior role as NBCUniversal CEO in 2023 due to allegations of sexual misconduct with a CNBC correspondent. Ellison brought him over from an interim …

Watch live: Walz, Ellison testify before House on Minnesota fraud

Watch live: Walz, Ellison testify before House on Minnesota fraud

Published by Sam Flores

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and state Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) will testify Wednesday morning before the House Oversight and Governmental Reform Committee over the state’s welfare fraud scandal. House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) previously called on Walz and Ellison to provide any records, documents and communications regarding the welfare fraud for investigators, and… Source link

Barry Diller Quips About David Ellison, Harvey Weinstein

Barry Diller Quips About David Ellison, Harvey Weinstein

Published by Daniella Wilson

While introducing Producers Guild of America Milestone Award nominee Jason Blum at the PGA Awards on Saturday night, Barry Diller made digs at David Ellison, as well as the guild itself, for giving the honor to people like Harvey Weinstein and Les Moonves in previous years. “Samuel Goldwyn, Adolph Zukor, Jack Warner — What would Jack Warner do to know he’d been succeeded by a stunt pilot?” Diller, chairman of internet and media conglomerate IAC and an executive who led Paramount Pictures and Fox, said, which evoked audible gasps and laughs from the audience. Current Paramount chairman and CEO Ellison, who has been in the news in recent days for the mega merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, is a licensed pilot for helicopter aviation, aerobatics and more. Warner, of course, was the founder and president of Warner Bros. Studios. Diller, a longtime friend of Blum’s, continued: “Cecil B. DeMille, Disney, and now Blum: Not the most obvious succession, but then you also gave this award to Harvey Weinstein and Les Moonves. So there’s …

Everything Larry and David Ellison Will Control if Paramount Buys Warner Bros.

Everything Larry and David Ellison Will Control if Paramount Buys Warner Bros.

Published by skeptic

Less than a year ago, Skydance Media closed its $8 billion merger with Paramount, making the Trump-friendly Ellison family—billionaire Oracle founder Larry and his son David, CEO of Paramount Skydance—among the most powerful media moguls in the country. A looming Paramount Skydance merger with Warner Bros. Discovery would expand their empire even further. Now that Netflix has backed out of its bid to acquire WBD, the Ellisons stand to gain an entirely new trove of significant intellectual property, from DC Comics to Harry Potter. As part of the deal, the Ellison Trust is committing to $45.7 billion in equity and a $7 billion termination fee if federal regulators don’t approve of it, according to Reuters. Paramount’s merger with Skydance has already brought about mass layoffs, including at CBS News, where Free Press founder Bari Weiss is leading a cultural overhaul as editor-in-chief. In January, Oracle became a partial owner of TikTok, giving the Ellisons even more cultural currency. Here’s everything the family would control if the WBD deal goes through. CBS and CBS News Besides …

2026 State of the Union Guests Erika Kirk, David Ellison, Kevin O’Leary

2026 State of the Union Guests Erika Kirk, David Ellison, Kevin O’Leary

Published by Daniella Wilson

When President Donald trump delivers his State of the Union address to Congress tonight, the audience will be filled with high-profile media personalities, both old and new. That includes David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount, who is seeking to pry Warner Bros. Discovery away from Netflix in a blockbuster deal; and Erika Kirk, who will be attending as Trump’s guest. It also includes Nick Shirley, the controversial conservative creator whose expose of Minneapolis childcare centers sparked an entire news cycle in right-leaning media; and Kevin O’Leary, the Shark Tank host and Marty Supreme surprise. Only Kirk, the widow of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was murdered last year, is attending a guest of the president. Ellison is attending as a guest of Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC); while O’Leary is attending as a guest of Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL). Shirley is attending as a guest of Rep. Peter Stauber (R-MN). While there are plenty of more widely-expected guests attending (NASA astronauts, the family of Jesse Jackson, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein), the media-heavy guest list …

“You Ought To Be In Jail”: Senator Unloads On Minnesota AG Ellison Over Fraud Scandal

“You Ought To Be In Jail”: Senator Unloads On Minnesota AG Ellison Over Fraud Scandal

Published by Jenni Sidey

During a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing this week, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) confronted Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. The Missouri Republican exposed Ellison’s ties to the Feeding Our Future scandal, where fraudsters stole $250 million in federal child nutrition funds.  Hawley didn’t hold back, charging the Democrat with protecting fraudsters who funneled cash to terrorists and traffickers, as well as Ellison’s own campaign coffers, and telling him he “ought to be in jail.” THERE IT IS 🚨 Official Hearing where Senator Josh Hawley confronts Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison about meeting with and taking campaign donations from Somali fraudsters stealing billions He personally called and BLOCKED THE INVESTIGATIONS Josh Hawley “Are you… pic.twitter.com/i40Ow5V9Zz — Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) February 12, 2026 Hawley opened the confrontation by spotlighting $10,000 in campaign donations Ellison pocketed from players in the Feeding Our Future mess, which the New York Post broke last year, detailing how the money flowed in right after a December 11, 2021, meeting at Ellison’s office. Ellison repeatedly denied it, calling it …