From the Beast’s media desk

Welcome to this week’s edition of Confider, the media newsletter that pulls back the curtain to reveal what’s really going on inside the world’s most powerful navel-gazing industry. Subscribe here and send your questions, tips, and complaints here.

EXCLUSIVE — MEDIA #METOO MEN: Summer 2023 has been a busy time for alleged serial sexual harassers hoping to get back into the media spotlight. Confider checked in on some of the most powerful media men felled during #MeToo and learned that some of them have been trying to mount a comeback—with varying degrees of success. Charlie Rose, for example, has been quietly working on a resurgence via “the power of questions,” as his website blares. After unveiling a sitdown chat with billionaire investor Warren Buffett last year, Rose has intermittently released episodes of Charlie Rose Conversations, most recently an interview with Ret. Gen. David Petraeus posted a few weeks ago. Rose seems to be nostalgic for the days before he was fired by CBS and PBS in 2017 after 8 women came forward with allegations of sexual harassment and groping (after Rose apologized, the tally of accusers rose to 35): He’s taken to posting old clips of his talk show, including a 1999 interview with Jimmy Carter, tagged “In Memoriam,” despite the ex-prez still being alive. When reached for comment, Rose told Confider that he has more interviews planned and that he wants to get back into the mix on subjects like the 2024 election, Ukraine, and artificial intelligence. “This is an interesting time in the affairs of the world, and I hope to be part of the conversation,” he said. Page Six reported in February that former Today show host Matt Lauer has been eyeing a similar podcast-like comeback after being fired by NBC in 2017 over multiple sex-misconduct allegations (which he described as “mischaracterizations”)—but those ambitions have seemingly stalled, Confider has learned. Two people familiar with his thinking told us that he’s been merely spending time with his girlfriend, PR exec Shamin Abas, and the three kids he shares with ex-wife Annette Roque, with supposedly no immediate plans for a return to media. Lauer has been spotted at various Hamptons functions this summer, including the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation’s annual gala. Lauer hung up on Confider when reached for comment. Meanwhile, former NBC News political star Mark Halperin, who quickly saw his star fall after being fired in 2017 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment (he denied the claims), has seemingly had the most successful comeback of the lot—depending on how you define “success.” After a few failed attempts at rehabbing his career via his pals Michael Smerconish and Joe Scarborough, Halperin fully embraced the dark side and joined up with Newsmax, a channel notorious for rehabbing creeps. Since then, his profile has only grown on the right-wing network. This summer he’s been busy making near-daily appearances, sometimes multiple times in one day, even dutifully playing the role of in-house political analyst on propaganda shows hosted by sitting GOP lawmakers—a sign of just how far Halperin, who did not respond to a request for comment, has come as a serious journalist. 

EXCLUSIVE — THE ‘HERB’ STRIKES BACK: The animosity between G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller and the union representing his workers continues to heat up like a fiery summer BBQ. Last week G/O filed a grievance against WGA East for using their social platforms to tell readers not to click on articles that were generated with the use of artificial intelligence and featured on G/O sites, Confider has learned. It’s just the latest flashpoint in rising tensions at the media empire. Last week, Confider exclusively reported how Jezebel editor-in-chief Laura Bassett had quit in protest after not being able to backfill roles or give her writers raises or promotions. Bassett is the seventh EIC in a portfolio of 10 sites to quit G/O over the last eight months. G/O insiders suggested Spanfeller’s grievance may have been in retaliation for internal revelations featured in last week’s Confider—namely that Spanfeller, whom staffers have derisively referred to as a “herb,” had hired his daughter to a G/O sales position and then promoted her within a year. “Such actions constituted an unlawful boycott in violation of their labor agreement,” a G/O spokesperson emailed Confider about the union’s actions. “After G/O Media filed its grievance, the union immediately took down these unlawful social media posts.” A spokesperson for the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), meanwhile, wrote to Confider: “With the spread of fake and manipulated news, it is essential that people can trust media outlets as reliable sources of information. The Union will always stand with writers committed to protecting and preserving ethical journalism standards.”

EXCLUSIVE — OAN’S CRINGEY RAP: That cringe-inducing pro-Trump rap video starring multiple One America News hosts has left staffers at the little-watched cable outlet deeply embarrassed, multiple sources told Confider. MAGA rapper Forgiato Blow teamed up with the far-right conspiracy-laden channel’s top star Dan Ball for the video for “Real America” (also the title of Ball’s primetime show), which featured Ball reading a monologue railing against Donald Trump’s latest indictment and stiffly dancing like an uncle at a wedding. Throughout the video, Blow further interacts with other OAN personalities, including the channel’s 82-year-old owner Robert Herring, and runs through the newsroom while network staff dramatically tear apart folders reading “Trump Indictment #4.” The video is guaranteed secondhand embarrassment for all viewers who aren’t fully living a MAGA alt-reality. And OAN employees seemed to realize that, as two people familiar with the matter told Confider that some staffers walked out of the newsroom prior to filming because they didn’t want to be a part of it. One OAN employee added that staffers generally did not know about the video shoot until the last minute and just went along with it. Much of the finger-pointing about the over-the-top video—which also features Herring in sunglasses copping a cross-armed tough guy pose—was aimed directly at Ball, who has gained a reputation at the channel for his allegedly volatile temper and cartoonish on-air persona. “I need to leave OAN ASAP! I am sick and tired of Dan Ball’s antics, and so are so many others behind the scenes,” one current OAN anchor wrote to Confider. A former network employee, who called the video “unhinged” and “desperate,” quipped that “whoever let news anchors and a newsroom participate was likely coerced.” Other current and former staffers told Confider they are “officially taking OAN off my resume after watching this” or that they “can’t stop laughing” at the “bizarre” video. Herring did not respond to a request for comment, but Ball wrote in a statement: “We’d like to thank all the American Patriots out there who downloaded the song ‘Real America’! Within the first 24 hours of the songs release we reached #11 on the Top 100 ITunes billboard charts in the Rap/Hip-Hop genre, all thanks to you! God Bless you  🇺🇸 🙏🏻”

EXCLUSIVE — ZOMBIE BUZZFEED: BuzzFeed News officially shut down in early May, but one wouldn’t necessarily know that from its homepage, which has featured a steady stream of newly published celebrity content since late June. The move seemingly contradicts a note—obtained by Confider—that was sent to BuzzFeed News staffers following the outlet’s shutdown announcement and said the homepage “will become static,” with section links remaining on a sidebar. The fresh celebrity content is the work of a U.K.-based team—all of whom were once BuzzFeed News staffers—that has been cross-publishing its work on both sites. This zombie-like revival of the homepage has rankled several former staffers who spoke to Confider. Some especially took issue with the website publishing a story earlier this month declaring internet star Lil Tay dead based solely on an Instagram post—all while former BuzzFeed News reporters, now at sister publication HuffPost, were working to confirm the news themselves. (The HuffPost story, which noted Lil Tay’s “death” seemed to be “an elaborate hoax,” was worked on by former BuzzFeed News staffers.) When a HuffPost editor asked in an open Slack channel about the decision to publish the story, BuzzFeed’s publisher Dao Nguyen replied that it was an “experiment to test our continued platform authority” on platforms such as Facebook and Google that would last through the summer, according to screenshots of the exchange obtained and reviewed by Confider. The editor responded by acknowledging the U.K. team’s experience but wrote that the story wouldn’t have run under “the buzzfeed news editorial standards that came from editors like me.” Other former BuzzFeeders who spoke with Confider noted how much traffic celebrity content generated for BuzzFeed News, understanding why the company may want to maintain that potential revenue source. A BuzzFeed spokesperson wrote that the U.K. team is merely continuing the work they did while under the BuzzFeed News banner and that their stories “consistently had high referrals from multiple sources.” Additionally, the spox wrote, “It’s too soon to say where we’re going to land on this experiment, and it’s worth emphasizing we have a long history and culture of experimentation both in our content and in our distribution strategies.”

Tips? We’re all ears: confider@thedailybeast.com or call/text us 551 655 2343.

IN PLAIN SIGHT: Comedian and actor Aziz Ansari made a surprise appearance at the Comedy Cellar in NYC on Saturday night and told the packed house he has permanently moved to London… Bon Appetit has finally found its new editor-in-chief: The Philadelphia Inquirer’s assistant managing editor Jamila Robinson.

WE HEAR WHISPERS: Barstool Sports bro-in-chief Dave Portnoy, credibly accused by three women of engaging in violent sexual encounters, has hired a high-powered PR firm to rebuild his image. If you know who is flacking for Portnoy, email us here or call us at (551) 655-2343.

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MORE FROM THE BEAST MEDIA DESK

—“A lawyer for the Marion County Record alleges that Kansas authorities involved in the raid of the newspaper secretly copied data from at least one of its computers—and failed to hand it over with other seized evidence,” our colleague Pilar Melendez reported, the latest in this ongoing Kansas local media saga. More here.

—Project Veritas’ woes have continued long after “power-drunk tyrant” James O’Keefe exited. After laying off most of its workforce earlier this month, the right-wing outlet now plans to cut further costs by going fully remote and hiring an outside firm to produce content. More here.

—Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum thought they could pretend we lived in a Trump-less world at last week’s GOP presidential debate, but the two-hour circus’ eventual derailment over Trump-related questions showed how much power he still holds over the GOP and their audience. We broke down their attempts to moderate here.

RECENT READS

—Fox News quietly amended and then removed a story falsely claiming a fallen Marine’s family was forced to cover the costs of transporting her body after the U.S. Marines complained, WaPo reported based on emails the paper obtained. Fox has yet to publicly correct the report or explain its removal, but it did issue an apology on Sunday. More here. 

—Gay Talese’s 1966 profile of a forlorn, cold-stricken Frank Sinatra is widely considered one of the greatest magazine profiles ever written. In a brilliant excerpt from his new memoir, the legendary journalist tells his side of the fateful assignment. More here.

—The sorry state of Vice and its trajectory from a cutting-edge media empire to a tool for Saudi propaganda is a tale best told by a former employee. Read that piece here.

***WHAT ARE WE OUTRAGED ABOUT NOW?***

After taking heat from liberals for invoking Reagan-era“welfare queen” rhetoric in his viral country ballad “Rich Men North of Richmond,” singer Oliver Anthony then experienced the opposite last week when the extreme right rejected him for touting diversity. Speaking to Fox News about his overnight success, Anthony said the U.S. is “the melting pot of the world” and that diversity is “what makes us strong,” prompting alt-right provocateurs and openly racist trolls to blast the artist. “Promoted algorithm boosted ‘based’ red beard hillbilly song guy was faking his accent and says diversity is our strength,” one “black-pilled” account fumed last week, while others called Anthony a “conservafraud” who was “repeating zionist ‘melting pot’ ethnocide narratives.” The country singer, whose tune vaulted to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 after conservatives breathlessly promoted it as a right-wing anthem, seemed to further anger the right by dismissing Fox News’ use of his song during the GOP primary debate. “It’s aggravating seeing people on conservative news trying to identify with me like I’m one of them,” Anthony said on Friday. “Are you kidding me? This is a group of people that made your song wildly famous and... he’s almost slapping in the face the people that made him famous,” Newsmax contributor Chrissy Clark grumbled on Monday. “It’s off-putting! I didn’t like this!”

Confider will return after the Labor Day holiday with more saucy scooplets. In the meantime, subscribe here  and send us questions, complaints, or tips here or call/text us 551 655 2343.