The Ellisons' Trump Payoff, an Intruder Comes for Today Show's Craig Melvin, and R. Kelly's Hail Mary to the White House

A new Paramount shareholder lawsuit claims the Ellisons paid President Trump thirty-six million dollars and agreed to get rid of CNN anchors he doesn't like to help get their Warner Bros. Merger approved. A man got past security at the Today show, went looking for Al Roker, then lunged at Craig Melvin while shouting a racial slur. And R. Kelly is asking President Trump to shorten his thirty-year prison sentence.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
A new Paramount shareholder lawsuit alleges billionaires David and Larry
Ellison cut a secret deal with President Trump to hand
him editorial control over CNN.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
This one hundred and ten billion dollar proposed merger, the
largest merger in Hollywood history, would extinguish competition.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
And a man slips past security at the Today's Show,
reportedly looking for Al Roker before confronting Craig Melvin and
yelling a racial slur.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
So you actually heard about what I did?

Speaker 1 (00:35):
And R Kelly is asking President Trump to shorten his
prison sentence.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
I didn't do this stuff.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
It's Friday, July seventeenth, from the Black Effect Podcast network.
I'm Mimi Brown. This is front page and here are
the day's biggest stories. Stay with me. A new shareholder
lawsuit is raising serious concern about the proposed merger between
Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery. The lawsuit claims Larry and

(01:05):
David Ellison made promises to President Trump to help get
the deal approved. According to the lawsuit, those promises included
up to twenty million dollars in free advertising, a sixteen
million dollar payment tied to an earlier settlement, and a
promise to make changes at CNN, including getting rid of
anchors President Trump doesn't like. Paramount denies the allegation, saying

(01:28):
neither Larry nor David Ellison made any deals with the
Trump administration or promised any changes at CNN. The lawsuit
also comes as California and eleven other states are already
trying to stop the proposed one hundred and eleven billion
dollar merger, arguing it would give the combined company too
much control over the entertainment industry and could lead to

(01:49):
higher prices for consumers. Here's California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
We're here. I'm here to announce a lawsuit that I've
filed and that a coalition of twelve states have filed,
challenging the proposed merger of Paramounts Guidance and Warner Brothers
Discovery and asking the court to block the merger from
moving forward. This one hundred and ten billion dollar proposed merger,

(02:19):
the largest merger in Hollywood history, would extinguish competition. It
would result in higher prices, lower content quality, and fewer
movies and TV shows. As our complaint makes clear, this
deal is illegal under the Clayton Act. That is a

(02:40):
law that has been on the books for over one
hundred years. It prevents mergers that may substantially lessen competition
or tend to create a monopoly.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Pearmount says the merger will help it compete with streaming
companies like Netflix and Disney and allow it to produce
more movies. The States, however, disagree, and now both lawsuits
will move through the courts, and a frightening security breach
at the Today Show is now raising new questions about

(03:11):
safety inside NBC's New York studios. Police say a man
got past security Thursday morning, entered through a restricted area
near Studio A, and was reportedly looking for Al Roker. Instead,
investigators say he confronted Craig Melvin, lunging at the anchor
while shouting a racial slur. Cameras later caught up with
the suspect. Let's listen, So you actually heard about.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
What I did? Hey? Hey, question? Listen? Did you actually
hear what I did? Yeah? So what do you do?
Not TMC or anything? Are you here?

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Are you lack a freelance or do you actually work
for entertainment hip?

Speaker 2 (03:50):
I'm gonna work for a newspaper, which one, folks, you're
gonna put me in the post. Yeah all right, hey, sir,
hold on a second, excuse a post. Listen.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
I want you to tell the paper when they write
the article.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Listen.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Yeah, well them tell them that I was more offered
to us. Craig Melvin later told viewers he's doing fine
and thanked everyone who reached out with concerns. No one
was injured and the suspect was taken into custody, and
NBC says it's cooperating with law enforcement as the investigation continues.
Melvin is scheduled to be off the air next week,

(04:29):
but NBC says that time off was planned before Thursday
security breach and is unrelated to the incident. And finally,
R Kelly is asking President Trump to shorten his prison sentence.
The disgraced R and B singer has officially filed a

(04:50):
request asking the President to commute his sentence. A commutation
is not the same as a pardon. It doesn't erase
a conviction. It only reduces the amount of times someone
spends in prison. Oh, have a relationship with my kids
and I can't do it. R Kelly was sentenced to
thirty years in federal prison after a jury convicted him
in New York of rocketeering and sex trafficking. He was

(05:13):
later convicted in Chicago on child pornography and child enticement
charges and received a twenty year sentence, with all but
one year running at the same time in his New
York sentence, that means he's effectively serving a thirty one
year federal sentence. He isn't expected to be released until
twenty forty five, when he'll be nearly seventy nine years old.

(05:34):
Kelly has already lost multiple appeals. Now his best chance
of getting out early rests with President Trump, who has
the power to grant or deny his request. That's your
front Page, I Mimi Brown. This podcast was brought to
you by the Black Effect Podcast Network.