David Ellison backs CNN’s Trump lawsuit, pledges editorial independence

(CNN) — CNN’s new owner, David Ellison, says he supports CNN’s legal action against the Trump administration over White House access, and will not interfere in the news organization’s coverage.

“We believe in editorial independence, and we will never interfere,” Ellison said, reiterating the reassurances he made while seeking to buy Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this year.

The merger between Warner and Paramount took effect on Tuesday morning, and Ellison held an employee town hall to introduce the newly combined company, named Skydance.

Later in the day, he fielded questions from reporters at a press conference in Los Angeles.

When asked how Skydance will win over people who opposed the merger, Ellison said, “We’re going to make sure that CNN and CBS News are completely editorially independent. We’re going to build a streaming service that can compete with anybody. And I think that when we actually follow through on all of those promises, I believe it will rebuild trust.”

At both the press conference and town hall, Ellison, the CEO of Skydance, laid out his vision for investing in films, shows and new technology.

“For the first time,” he told employees, “we have the studios, the franchises, the libraries, the talent and scale all under one roof to compete with anyone in the world.”

While Ellison didn’t name names, he meant media giants like Google, Netflix, and Disney.

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper interviewed Ellison at the town hall and asked directly about CNN employees’ concerns about Skydance’s ownership.

In response, Ellison said, “I believe deeply in journalism,” and went on to call the work done by CBS News and CNN “a vital part of our democracy.”

While speaking about the need for fact-based news, Ellison said, “You go back to what President Obama said during the pandemic. He said a republic that can’t agree on the same set of facts can’t function, and I think he was 100% right about that.”

In the news space, “we want to actually help scale and transition the business digitally,” Ellison said.

He emphasized the importance of growing CNN’s digital operations and reaching new audiences worldwide, citing Skydance’s estimate that the combined company reaches more than 200 million streaming subscribers.

The newly formed company, he said, “can create an even bigger platform for the best journalism in the world.”

The Ellison family’s ties to President Donald Trump had fueled concerns among CNN employees about the network’s independence.

Last fall, Trump described Ellison and his father, the billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, as “friends of mine” and “big supporters of mine.” Last December, Trump said “it’s imperative that CNN be sold” to new owners.

Asked about the merger on Tuesday afternoon, Trump said, “It’s going to be a great company. They’re terrific people, and it’s going to be a great company.”

At the Skydance town hall, Cooper asked a follow-up question about CNN, MS NOW and Politico’s First Amendment lawsuit over Trump’s recent attempt to ban the three news outlets from the White House.

Cooper asked, “Do you stand with CNN and our effort to completely restore access to covering President Trump?”

“Of course,” Ellison said.

The next hearing in the legal case is slated for Thursday morning.

Both CNN chairman and editor-in-chief Mark Thompson and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss attended the town hall. The two news operations are operating separately for now.

At the press conference, Ellison praised both news leaders, saying, “We’re thrilled, obviously, with Mark. We’re thrilled with Bari.”

When a reporter asked about Ellison’s relationship with Trump, he answered, “We have a good relationship with this administration. I also had a really good relationship with President Biden. I have a good relationship with Senator Tim Scott, and I have a good relationship with Governor Gavin Newsom. I think it is important to talk to everybody, on both sides of the aisle.”

“We want to speak to everybody,” Ellison added. “We do not want to politicize the company.” Seemingly referring back to his previous meetings with Trump, Ellison said, “We were in a transaction review process. But with that said, we are now turning that page.”

At the town hall, Cooper asked about the likelihood of a tie-up between CBS and CNN in the future: “If Paramount and Warner Brothers are now cousins, and CBS News and CNN are cousins, when does somebody start to ask them to share organs?”

“It’s day one,” Ellison said.

He said he intends to bring the relevant business leaders “into the decision-making” now that the deal has taken effect.

Generally speaking, companies will start making integration decisions “within usually 120 days,” Ellison said, “but I think it’s foolish to try to say I’m going to show up with every single answer today.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

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