In an unusual step, GQ magazine removed an article critical of powerful media executive David Zaslav from its website just hours after it was published Monday, following a complaint from Zaslav’s camp.
The story, by freelance film critic Jason Bailey, excoriated the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery for his handling of the company’s entertainment properties — specifically perceived crimes against film, such as the layoffs at the Turner Classic Movies channel that outraged prominent directors and other superfans and his decision to not release finished movies such as “Batgirl” for tax purposes. At one point, Bailey compared Zaslav to tyrannical “Succession” patriarch Logan Roy. …
Archived versions of the original and edited versions of the article show significant changes that had the effect of softening its tone. A line calling Zaslav “the most hated man in Hollywood” was deleted. The “Succession” comparison was removed, as was a segment where Bailey called the reality shows that Zaslav oversaw while running Discovery “reality slop.”
[GQ claims that the story was “not properly edited” before getting published. It sounds more like they got cold feet. The descriptions of the edits do not sound as though Bailey made factual errors but more about the tone of the article, which an editor would have had to approve before initial publication. (I’m fairly certain that GQ doesn’t allow freelancers to publish their articles on the website without any review.) The only factual assertion that Bailey made that got removed appears to be Bailey’s claim that Zaslav had become “the most hated man in Hollywood,” which is probably hyperbole in the Weinstein era. After this episode, however, Zaslav might be catching up. — Ed]
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