★ Topic
Speech Isn't Free
$24.17B documented · July 2025 – June 2026
- Actions
- 4
- People
- 2
- Orgs
- 8
- Sectors
- 6
Coercive lawsuits and settlements, ownership consolidation, editorial appointments, and regulatory leverage that pressure news organizations and deter independent or critical coverage — the rising price of free expression when those in power can buy, capture, or punish it.
Actions
Government Action
June 2026Trump's DOJ closes Paramount-Warner probe before staff could object
Private Action
April 2026Paramount asks Trump's FCC to let Gulf funds own 38.5% of CBS-CNN owner
$24B
Private Action
October 2025Paramount buys Bari Weiss's Free Press, names her CBS News editor
$150M
Private Action
July 2025Paramount pays Trump $16M to settle CBS 60 Minutes lawsuit
$16M
People
Ranked by appearances across this topic's actions.
- 1 actionBari WeissFounder of The Free Press; upon its acquisition by Paramount Skydance she was named editor-in-chief of CBS News, overseeing editorial direction across the division and reporting directly to chairman David Ellison.
1 actionDavid EllisonChairman and chief executive of Paramount Skydance and son of Trump ally Larry Ellison; he personally addressed Justice Department staff concerns in a two-hour interview that senior leaders credited when they cleared his company's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Organizations
Ranked by appearances across this topic's actions.
4 actionsParamountParamount Skydance's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery was cleared at the federal level. Paramount had earlier paid $16 million to Trump's presidential library to settle a CBS 60 Minutes lawsuit.
1 actionDepartment of JusticeThe Justice Department's senior leadership closed the antitrust division's investigation of the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger on June 12, 2026, clearing it federally before career staff who were leaning toward recommending a challenge had formally weighed in, and issued a public statement supporting the deal.
1 actionDonald J. Trump Presidential Library FoundationDesignated recipient of the bulk of Paramount's $16 million settlement, allocated to the fund for Trump's future presidential library; the remainder covered plaintiffs' legal fees.- 1 actionL'imad HoldingA government-owned Abu Dhabi investment vehicle with no prior public record of international dealmaking; it agreed to take a 12.8% equity stake in the merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery — reported to be its first known cross-border transaction.
- 1 actionPublic Investment FundSaudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund agreed to take a 15.1% equity stake — about $10 billion — in the merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery. It is the same fund that committed $2 billion to Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners in 2021 over the unanimous objection of its own screening committee.
- 1 actionQatar Investment AuthorityQatar's sovereign wealth fund agreed to take a 10.6% equity stake in the merged company as part of the roughly $24 billion in Gulf financing for Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
1 actionThe Free PressThe subscription news and opinion company founded by Bari Weiss, acquired by Paramount Skydance for approximately $150 million in cash and stock.
1 actionWarner Bros. DiscoveryThe parent company of CNN, HBO, and the Warner Bros. studios; the federal clearance removed the U.S. antitrust obstacle to its acquisition by Paramount Skydance.
Sectors involved
Derived from the organizations and individuals involved.