R. P. Scott<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://bird.makeup/users/doughenwood" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>doughenwood</span></a></span> </p><p>For those unfamiliar: Bari Weiss is a conservative-leaning <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/journalist" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>journalist</span></a>—often labeled <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/rightwing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>rightwing</span></a> for her defenses of free speech against "cancel culture," staunch pro-Israel views, and criticisms of progressive stances on <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/transgender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>transgender</span></a> rights and campus politics, though she self-identifies as a "radical centrist"—ex-op-ed editor at the New York Times (who resigned citing a toxic culture) and Wall Street Journal alum. She founded The Free Press in 2021 as an independent outlet. </p><p>As of this week, Paramount (post-Skydance merger) closed a $150M deal to acquire it and named her CBS News editor-in-chief—prompting Henwood's savage nod to her site's "soul-keeping" wellness piece.</p><p>The delicious irony of media's cancel culture whiplash. Just weeks ago, Disney/ABC caved to right-wing backlash (and alleged <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/FCC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FCC</span></a> /Trump admin pressure) by suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely after Kimmel's ill-timed jab at a shooter tied to Charlie Kirk—sparking massive subscriber boycotts, Disney+ cancellations, and even Marvel stars calling for a full purge.</p><p>They reinstated it days later amid the uproar, hailed by some as a free-speech win. Fast-forward: Paramount (fresh off Skydance) hires cancel-culture foe Weiss to helm <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/CBSNews" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CBSNews</span></a> freaking out liberal staffers who see her as a right-wing Trojan horse—while a probe eyes their own axing of Trump-basher Stephen Colbert. </p><p>Disney bends left-to-right pressure; Paramount flips the script. Peak 2025 media chaos where everyone's getting canceled and nobody's principles survive contact with the quarterly earnings call.</p><p><a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/BariWeiss" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BariWeiss</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/JimmyKimmel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>JimmyKimmel</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/StephenColbert" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>StephenColbert</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/CharlieKirk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CharlieKirk</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/CBSNews" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CBSNews</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/Paramount" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Paramount</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/Disney" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Disney</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/ABC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ABC</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/TheFreePress" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TheFreePress</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/NewYorkTimes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NewYorkTimes</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/Skydance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Skydance</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/MediaBias" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MediaBias</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/CancelCulture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CancelCulture</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/FreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FreeSpeech</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/DonaldTrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DonaldTrump</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/NYT" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NYT</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/WSJ" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WSJ</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/Israel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Israel</span></a></p>