Story on Paramount bid was from fake news release

Matthew Keys of The Desk writes about how multiple news outlets were duped into writing stories about a $43 billion offer for Paramount based on a fake news release.

Keys writes, “The ruse started with a press release issued by “Apex Capital Trust,” which was published by Business Wire and widely reported on by leading publications like Reuters, the New York Post, Deadline Hollywood, The Streamable, IndieWire, The Wrap and Variety. The Desk originally published a story on the purported bid, citing Reuters as the source of the information. Social media platform LinkedIn also published an article on the purported bid, aggregating reports that were posted by some of its users; the article was pulled after The Desk notified a LinkedIn news editor about the apparent hoax.

“According to the original press, Apex Capital Trust offered $43 billion in cash to buy Paramount’s majority shareholder, National Amusements, and the rest of Paramount’s non-voting Class B stock. It also promised to pay Skydance Media a $400 million break-up fee that would allow Paramount to move on from their offer to merge the production firm with the entertainment giant, as well as an infusion of $10 billion in capital.”

Read more here.