Bari Weiss and the CBS cloud hanging over the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger | CNN Business

A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for free here. Does bad news for CBS News translate to bad news for Paramount’s takeover of CNN and the rest of Warner Bros. Discovery? Not directly, no. But the self-inflicted wounds at CBS News may raise a different question for Paramount CEO David Ellison: Has Bari Weiss become too much of a distraction? The “60 Minutes” firings and now Scott Pelley’s “CBS News is on fire” interview have exploded in the press just weeks before Paramount would like to complete the blockbuster WBD deal. “Legally speaking, it doesn’t matter,” an executive involved in the mega-merger said on condition of anonymity. That’s because regulators are examining the deal on antitrust grounds, not on journalism-ethics grounds. “But PR-wise, it might matter,” the source added. CBS News races to steady ‘60 Minutes’ after Scott Pelley’s firing Headlines like this one, from the Financial Times, are never helpful: “Inside the CBS mutiny against Bari Weiss and David Ellison.” The Los Angeles Times recently wrote that “In Hollywood, image is everything. And David Ellison has an image proble