| | | | Gabe Sherman's sources say that Rupert Murdoch and his sons Lachlan and James "have settled on removing" Roger Ailes. The questions now are "when?" and "how?"
Sherman's sources say that James wants action against Ailes this week -- "resign or face being fired" -- while Rupert and Lachlan think "no action should be taken until after the GOP convention this week."
Inside baseball: If Sherman's right, this is the biggest scoop of his life. If he's wrong, well... | | | No confirmation of the report yet | | | At 10am ET, Sherman told me he was working on a story... But didn't say it would be a jaw-dropper. He published at 12:50pm ET. As of 7pm, no other outlet has matched his reporting. Deadline has come the closest, saying that "moves are afoot to 'sideline'" Ailes and that "things came to a head over the weekend." | | | Here's what I know for sure | | | After an afternoon of reporting, here's what I know: It is unclear whether Murdochworld has really made up its mind about Ailes. The "internal review" that was announced when Gretchen Carlson filed her sexual harassment lawsuit hasn't wrapped up yet. From what I'm hearing, it's not even close. But there are several options on the proverbial table -- and the removal of Ailes IS one of them. The Murdochs are serious about this. | | Twelve days have gone by since Carlson sued. If Sherman's report is true, if the Murdochs have decided his time is up, Ailes is being forced out of the network he founded, masterminded and led to first place in the cable news wars. If it's true, he's leaving in disgrace.
If it's true, it's "arguably a bigger story for conservatives than anything happening in Cleveland this week -- or maybe USA in Nov," Bill Carter tweets. One of his followers replied and called it "Apple without Steve Jobs..." | | | Fox's non-denial speaks volumes | | But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's examine what Fox said and what Fox didn't say today. Ailes' spokeswoman Irena Briganti referred all inquiries to 21st Century Fox, a/k/a the spokespeople for the Murdochs. Ninety minutes after Sherman's report, 21CF put out this one sentence statement: "This matter is not yet resolved and the review is not concluded."
So the Murdochs, through their P.R. department, did not deny Sherman's report or express any support for Ailes... | | | As you can imagine, all the TV newsers here are the convention are gossiping about Ailes. Overheard: "This feels like a coup that's actually succeeding" ... "Who's going to take the throne?" ... "How fast will Ailes launch a Fox rival?" | | | What about all the Fox stars who have defended Ailes? | | | In a tweet, Alex Skatell raised a really interesting question: "Fox News team loyalty to be tested, will talent threaten walk out?" | | | (Reminder: Megyn Kelly hasn't said a word about this yet) | | | Exclusive: The non-disparagement clauses that are keeping some sources quiet | | This afternoon we published a story that's been in the works since last week. It helps explain WHY the "internal review" is taking a while. The question I sought to answer: "Why are some women who want to support Carlson not speaking up publicly?"
The answer involves strict non-disparagement clauses that some former Fox employees must sign. In confidential interviews, several women who formerly held on-air jobs at Fox told me they believed Carlson's allegations and have stories of their own. But the women are reluctant to say much because of the legal language in their separation agreements.
When I was chasing this story last week, our other question was, "How can Fox's review possibly be credible if it doesn't include these women?" But today the women started hearing from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison... | | One of the women, a former Fox reporter, consulted a lawyer before speaking with me. Then she said, "I think there are many people who've had the same experience Gretchen is describing."
She described repeated instances of harassment by Ailes. "Roger often took verbal liberties with female employees," she said. But she wouldn't go into any more detail, due to the non-disparagement clause. Read more here... | | Just how unconventional is this convention, really? We'll have a better sense of that after tonight's prime time program. Melania Trump is the keynote speaker -- it's "the highest-profile speech of her life," CNNPolitics says -- and she'll be introduced by Donald. Email us your ratings predictions... The combined audience for the 10pm hour, broadcast + cable... Closest guess wins a shout-out tomorrow night...
-- Related: Philip Bump asks: "Can a Trump-led convention break the convention's first-night Nielsen rating doldrums?" | | Before the Ailes news broke, Dylan wrote this look at the lack of celebrity talent at Trump's convention:
"Republican conventions have long suffered from a celebrity deficit, but even by those standards, Trump's convention promises to be woefully deprived of star talent. It may be an indicator of Trump's limited popular appeal." His story has input from Bill Kristol, Frank Rich and Stu Stevens... | | | "Weekend Update" on Wednesdays on MSNBC | | Smart move by MSNBC... And a way for "SNL" to get in on all the late-night action these next two weeks:
Colin Jost and Michael Che are going to host "special editions" of "Weekend Update" this Wednesday after night three of the RNC and next Wednesday after night three of the DNC. It'll air at around midnight on MSNBC. Jost and Che will be "special correspondents" on "Today" on the same days... | | | Trump evidently still watching a LOT of CNN | | Shot by Donald Trump: "@CNN is the worst. They go to their dumb, one-sided panels when a podium speaker is for Trump! VAST MAJORITY want: Make America Great Again!"
Chaser by Trump antagonist Tim Miller: "@realDonaldTrump you have sent numerous tweets about how you don't watch cnn anymore yet it seems you are still watching a lot of cnn" | | | Why Trump's tweet matters | | | Broadcasters and cablers are always judicious about which speeches are shown live. The mere fact that a person is speaking at the podium isn't "news" deserving of live coverage. But Trump is already showing that he's going to complain about perceived slights during convention coverage... We'll see if he also bashes the media during his turns at the podium... | | Here's a reason to stay up really late tonight | | | When does "last night" become "this morning" in Cleveland? I'm going to find out... I'll be on CNN's "Early Start" from 3 to 5 a.m. ET, live from the CNN Grill. Wonder if it's serving alcohol or coffee at that hour... | | -- Jim Rutenberg's must-read column about the fact-checking challenge the networks face this week...
-- Margaret Sullivan, too, wants more fact-checking... She called out Lesley Stahl today...
-- Today Trump "ripped into the media for reporting that his process of picking his running mate was chaotic and fraught with second-guessing," T. Becket Adams reports... | | USA's "Shooter" premiere delayed AGAIN | | | Earlier this month, after the ambush in Dallas, USA moved the premiere of "Shooter" from July 19 to July 26. Now, after Baton Rouge, it's postponing the show til the fall. It's not even announcing a new date. Sandra Gonzalez has the full story here... | | | Frank Pallotta emails: Netflix reported disappointing subscriber growth in its Q2 earnings today, sending its stock down as much as 15% in after-hours trading. The company, which now has 83 million subscribers, says it's "growing, but not as fast as we would like or have been." It also placed some of the blame on reports surrounding the beginning of its implementation of a $2 price hike for long-time subscribers. "People don't like price increases, we know that," CEO Reed Hastings said. "It's a necessary phase for us to get through." Read much more here... | | "Star Trek" beaming onto Netflix | | | More from Frank: Before those rough reports this afternoon, Netflix nabbed a big (intergalactic?) brand. This morning CBS announced that its upcoming "Star Trek" series will stream exclusively on Netflix in 188 countries -- everywhere except the U.S. (where it'll be on CBS All Access) and Canada. Each episode will be available globally within 24 hours of its premiere... | | Speaking of "Star Trek..." | | | More from Frank: I don't know how I feel as a "Star Wars" fan to be writing two "Star Trek" stories in one day, so I'll keep this short. Paramount announced a fourth "Star Trek" film that will bring back Chris Hemsworth as Captain Kirk's dad, who died in the first film. How? We don't know. But "Star Trek" sure does love time travel... | | -- New Viacomdrama: "Philippe Dauman, while maintaining his battle to keep his job, told the company he reserves the right to collect his golden-parachute payout if a court determines he must go..." (Bloomberg)
-- "Marissa Mayer may be ending her tenure at Yahoo on a sour note. Yahoo is writing down the value of its Tumblr acquisition by $482 million, citing lower projections for the social network's future performance." The news came in the company's quarterly earnings... (CNNMoney)
-- "AMC Networks is offering buyout packages to about 200 employees..." A much smaller # of people are expected to actually leave... (Variety)
-- Brian Lowry reports: "Steven Spielberg has been elected to the board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences," one of six new governors... Laura Dern is another... (CNNMoney) | | "Game of Thrones" topping 25 million viewers | | -- Alex Weprin tweets: "HBO says season six of 'Game of Thrones' averaging 25.1M viewers across linear/DVR/on demand/HBO Now."
Here's a comparison: "Silicon Valley" has 6.7 million viewers when measured the same way, and John Oliver's show has 5.6 million... | | Speaking of "Game of Thrones..." | | | Frank was busy today! Here's his fourth item: Seven is a lucky number for "Game of Thrones": The Faith of the Seven, Seven Kingdoms, and seven planned books by author George R.R. Martin. Now, the seventh season of the HBO hit fantasy drama will have only seven episodes -- down from its typical ten shows per season. HBO confirmed today the long-standing rumor that the next season of the popular drama will be shorter as it heads to its climax. Apart from having a shortened next season, "GOT" will also have a later start premiere next summer instead of next spring. So winter is coming, but you'll have to wait a little bit longer for it. Read more from Frank here... | | Are you on Team K or Team Tay? | | Are you all caught up on the Kim Kardashian West/Taylor Swift feud? Here's Emily Smith and Lisa France's summary...
And Chloe Melas just emailed this update: CNN obtained a copy of a legal letter sent by Swift's camp to Kanye West in February asking he "destroy" the recordings of their phone conversations. This piece of the puzzle shows that Swift was incredibly concerned about this footage getting out and potentially causing harm to her image... | | Send us feedback! Good, bad, ugly... | | | What do you like about today's newsletter -- and what do you think we should improve? Email your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. We'll be back tomorrow... | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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