Protests greeted the arrival of President Donald Trump for a lavish D.C. dinner hosted by Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, who is trying to push through the $111 billion takeover of a rival media giant despite monopoly concerns.
Thursday night’s private event, hosted by Ellison and attended by CBS News correspondents and executives including MAGA-friendly editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, was held at Washington’s Institute for Peace.
Ellison, the nepo-baby son of billionaire Trump pal Larry Ellison, took over CBS News following his acquisition of Paramount last year, promptly installing Weiss, who had no television news experience, at the helm.
The network has had a tumultuous few months since Weiss and Ellison’s takeover, experiencing significant layoffs while also losing key talent and failing to bring in viewers.
Ellison’s dinner for the president, two days ahead of the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner, followed a controversial vote by Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders to approve a merger with Paramount, which still needs federal approval.
As the presidential motorcade arrived at the Institute for Peace, which the president renamed after himself last year, it was greeted with protesters concerned about the monopoly risk posed by the Paramount/WBD merger. Protesters bore signs reminding Trump that “Democracy is not for sale” and accusing him of “stealing” the Institute for Peace. One pool reporter observed a protester flipping off the motorcade.
Dozens of protesters were joined by Democratic Reps. Becca Balint and Jamie Raskin, the latter of whom described the dinner as “a lavish oligarch’s dinner for Donald Trump.”
“We’re gathered here together tonight [because] in the building behind us, David Ellison is hosting a dinner to honor President Trump, a dinner that’s designed to cement the Ellisons to the president in their years-running corrupt merger scheme,” Raskin told the crowd.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House, CBS News, and organizers of the protest for comment.
Following Paramount’s acquisition of Weiss’ online outlet, The Free Press, and Weiss’ subsequent installation as CBS chief, the network took on a significantly more White House-friendly slant.
Weiss went so far as to temporarily shelve an episode of 60 Minutes about El Salvador’s CECOT prison, claiming that it “did not advance the ball” and needed more reporting, including interviews with administration officials, who had declined to be interviewed.
Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi pushed back on Weiss’ claims, telling colleagues via email that White House officials refusing to be interviewed was “a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story.”
While FCC Chair Brendan Carr has said that his agency would be unlikely to play a role in the Paramount/WBD merger, President Trump has repeatedly weighed in, calling for CNN to be included in the acquisition “because the people that are running CNN right now are either corrupt or incompetent.”
Last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reiterated the administration’s position, announcing during a briefing at the Pentagon that “the sooner David Ellison takes over [CNN], the better.”
The president will also be in attendance at the WHCA’s annual dinner on Saturday, as will Fox News alum Hegseth, who is expected to sit at one of the tables purchased by CBS News for the event. CBS News also invited White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to the event.
The decision to invite Trump officials like Hegseth raised concern among CBS employees given the defense secretary’s history of antagonizing journalists and attempts to dismantle the Pentagon press corps.
One employee told Status News that the network extending an invitation to Hegseth was “deeply disappointing,” while another described it as an “access play” by Weiss and CBS.
An executive at a rival network said that the invitation was a “slap in the face to the journalists at CBS News to invite the man leading the fight to unilaterally shut down press freedoms in this country.”
“Nothing says celebrating press freedoms like the man who won’t even let photographers in the room for fear they’d miss his good side,” the executive told Status.
