Billionaire Media Investor Talked About Firing CNN Hosts Trump Doesn’t Like in Backdoor White House Conversations: Report

As Warner Bros. Discovery searches for a buyer, the White House is allegedly favoring a deal involving Paramount Skydance.

That preference might stem in part from alleged talks that have taken place between Paramount’s largest shareholder Larry Ellison and White House officials, according to reporting by The Guardian.

Several insiders told the outlet that Ellison, 81, keeps in touch with various officials at the White House under President Donald Trump’s leadership. At least once, he reportedly spoke with someone about potentially restructuring of CNN, a network that is currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

More specifically, the discussion was allegedly about firing reporters such as Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar, who are not favored by Trump. The alleged discussion is said to have the White House “animated” about a deal between the two companies.

Conversations have also reportedly included the possibility of airing CBS programs like 60 Minutes on CNN. The network is a subset of Paramount.

Despite Ellison being involved in the conversations, The Guardian noted that he doesn’t play a formal role in the company beyond being a shareholder. The company is actually run by his son, David Ellison.

The White House is seen to have a favorable view of Paramount in part due to a $16 million settlement that the company made with Trump, 79, after he sued the company for $10 billion and accused them of deceptively editing a 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

In the aftermath of the settlement, CBS’ popular late-night show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was cancelled. The decision was made days after host Stephen Colbert slammed Paramount’s decision to settle with Trump.

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The president has frequently called for networks to fire late-night hosts who criticize him. Most recently, he called for NBC to fire Seth Meyers.

Initial bids for Warner Bros. Discovery are due on Thursday, Nov. 20. Paramount isn’t the only company currently eying an offer. According to The Guardian, there is also interest from Netflix and Comcast.

PEOPLE reached out to the White House for comment on the matter. CNN declined a request to comment.