CORPORATE CENSORSHIP
GQ takes down article critical of Warner Bros. boss



Dominick Mastrangelo
Wed, July 5, 2023 at 9:53 AM PDT·1 min read

Men’s lifestyle and culture magazine GQ has pulled from its website an article that was critical of David Zaslav, the media titan and CEO at conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery.

The article, authored by freelance Hollywood film critic Jason Bailey, painted Zaslav in a negative light, referring to him at one point as “the most hated man in Hollywood.”

The article cited tensions between Hollywood film makers and members of the industry’s largest writers guild, which is currently on strike, and recent cuts the media company has made to Turner Classic Movies, which falls under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella.

WarnerBros. Discovery is also the parent company of CNN, and Zaslav was instrumental in the hiring and firing of the network’s former top executive Chris Licht.


After the article published on Monday, representatives for Zaslav pushed back on it. The publication then made a series of edits to the piece.

Bailey, the author of the article, told The Washington Post he requested to have his byline taken off the story after the edits had been made.

“I wrote what I felt was the story I was hired to write,” Bailey told the Post. “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.”

A representative for GQ did not immediately return a request for comment.

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