A GQ article openly criticizing CEO David Zaslav has been pulled after its writer requested his name be taken off following numerous edits.
One of the most chastised men in the industry right now is Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav. And, honestly, with his track record, he deserves quite a bit of it. This is the guy who launched questionable mergers, cost hundreds of people jobs, severely cut the libraries of major streaming services, made sure HBO got changed to Max – which many of us will just plain never be down with – and…should we keep going?*
Now, a new GQ article criticizing David Zaslav has been pulled, a peculiar move that stems from its author wanting his own byline removed. As per The Washington Post, “A Zaslav associate complained to GQ about the story soon after it was published…” Available versions of both the original version that reporter Jason Bailey wrote and the ones edited by GQ higher-ups apparently show distinct differences, with lines like those calling the CEO “the most hated man in Hollywood” being snipped. But don’t worry, the article is pretty easy to find on the internet because, well, it’s the internet:
*OK, we’ll keep going. David Zaslav also gave screwing up Turner Classic Movies a shot – which is hopefully blocked by the likes of Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson – not to mention seeking a tax break after canning the “unreleasable” Batgirl, dropping stocks of Warner Bros. Discovery…should we keep going?+
The decision to pull the GQ article on David Zaslav from publication may have some serious insider play going on as well, as The Washington Post notes, “The magazine’s parent company, Condé Nast, is owned by Advance Publications, a major shareholder in Warner Bros. Discovery.” So, no, it’s probably not a good look on their end. According to Bailey, “When I was asked to rewrite it after publication, I declined. The rewrite that was done was not to my satisfaction, so I asked to have my name removed and was told that the option there was to pull the article entirely, and I was fine with that.”
Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on David Zaslav – and the pulled GQ story – in the comments section below!
