Valuetainment - August 06, 2025


“Bought By Israel？” - Saagar Calls Out Bari Weiss For Asking For $250 Million To SELL Free Press


Episode Stats

Length

13 minutes

Words per Minute

204.28473

Word Count

2,778

Sentence Count

239

Misogynist Sentences

4

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary

Barry Weiss has a question for David Eichner: Is the free press worth a quarter of a billion dollars? Plus, the latest on the CBS/Viacom/Time Warner deal, and why it s a bad idea.


Transcript

00:00:00.280 America's at a point right now where they're watching on podcasts and shows and future media companies.
00:00:07.640 I cannot tell you how many people were approached by on different media companies.
00:00:12.040 Hey, we'd like to do this. We'd like to do that. We'd like to do this, right?
00:00:15.320 Everybody is having conversations right now in the media space.
00:00:19.500 Rob, if you can go to the previous story, go back. No, you're right there.
00:00:23.160 No, no, go back where you're right. Go back to one page, the stories. Go back one page, Rob.
00:00:26.400 Yeah. So look at the top one that says, who thinks the free press is worth a quarter of a billion dollars?
00:00:31.220 So Barry Weiss, OK, goes out there sitting down with David Ellison.
00:00:36.660 OK, click on the story, Rob, if you could. CBS News.
00:00:40.020 So who thinks the free press is worth a quarter of a billion dollars?
00:00:42.880 Now, Barry Weiss has done some great interviews, and I think she was part of Twitter files, if I'm not mistaken.
00:00:48.140 And then she did a bunch of different things. Speaker Johnson interviewed a bunch of them.
00:00:51.940 Rob, if you can go a little bit lower to read the story.
00:00:53.840 So they're at a point that they're saying, we think our company is worth a quarter of a billion dollars, right?
00:01:00.000 And 1969, NBC canceled TV series Star Trek.
00:01:03.460 56 years later, the franchise, 13 movies.
00:01:06.300 How is this going to the Barry Weiss story?
00:01:08.340 Go a little bit lower, Rob, to make sure.
00:01:09.760 OK, there it is.
00:01:10.560 What shape or advisory role ultimately takes it still up for grabs,
00:01:14.660 but a reported asking price is a $250 payday for her new site, the free press,
00:01:22.160 which changed its name from common sense and which entirely bypassed a descriptive title like no old rich white guy.
00:01:30.420 After further review, it turns out you were right all along.
00:01:33.900 That's what she's asking for.
00:01:35.060 She can ask for that.
00:01:36.480 No problem, right?
00:01:38.720 Sager, Rob, if you can go to the clip that they have, and these guys have done a great job, the two of them.
00:01:45.120 Politically, they disagree.
00:01:46.060 I've been on their show before when we talked about Bernie Sanders six years ago.
00:01:49.280 I think I was on there one time.
00:01:50.820 We had a conversation about capitalism, and she was a Bernie supporter at the time.
00:01:55.520 Here's what he has to say about the ask of a quarter of a billion dollars.
00:02:00.060 Go for it.
00:02:00.780 That's my point.
00:02:01.420 The reason Tim Dillon's sketch hits so hard is because he's right.
00:02:05.100 The whole value comes from her willingness to put an intellectual sheen on absolute monstrosities.
00:02:12.260 That's what it is.
00:02:13.040 It's in writing.
00:02:14.400 The Dylan Byers, who's, again, I know this may seem tedious, but this is important for all you guys to understand, that there are people like us.
00:02:20.720 You know, they're all, listen, Tim Pool's not out there asking for a quarter billion dollars, all right?
00:02:24.940 And he gets 15 times the number of views.
00:02:27.180 He has more views than we do.
00:02:28.860 PBD, any of these other folks.
00:02:30.160 None of these folks are out there.
00:02:31.480 You can think whatever you want about them, but, you know, they're running their own businesses,
00:02:34.840 and they're not out there trying to be bought for billions and billions or whatever.
00:02:38.800 And the point, though, in the Barry Weiss case is that it is entirely an intellectual sheen on pro-Israel and pro-Zionism.
00:02:47.500 If you read about it, David Ellison and others are genuinely only want to buy the free press to support Israel.
00:02:56.160 That's it.
00:02:56.780 They want to support and put, what's her name, Barry on the CBS, like, news board as an ombudsman.
00:03:05.340 Yeah, so she's going to fill the role as the TikTok IDF lady.
00:03:09.220 Yes, as the censor.
00:03:10.340 For the same thing, but for the same thing.
00:03:11.700 Do you know why this is crazy?
00:03:13.100 Okay, you can pause it right there.
00:03:14.660 I have my thoughts on this, but, Tom, I'm going to go to you first.
00:03:17.520 So, Barry Weiss, quarter of a billion, that's her ask.
00:03:20.660 That's what she thinks the companies were.
00:03:22.120 He's saying this could be another leg to help out pro-Zionists, pro-Israel.
00:03:26.060 What are your thoughts about this breakdown of what he had to say?
00:03:29.000 First of all, I'm reacting the same as Sagar is.
00:03:32.560 I'm kind of stunned.
00:03:33.980 I'm like, are you kidding me?
00:03:36.060 So, but we saw Skydance jump around, billion-dollar increments jumping around on the acquisition of Paramount.
00:03:45.060 And, you know, Russia interfered with the election.
00:03:48.660 Now we have a new one that is Trump paid a bribe or Trump was paid a bribe in the form of the CBS settlement so that the merger would go through.
00:04:01.060 Yeah.
00:04:01.560 And that he fired Stephen Colbert if he didn't like him.
00:04:04.540 No, Stephen Colbert got fired because CBS and Paramount finally came to their senses and said, it doesn't work.
00:04:10.820 Nobody's watching.
00:04:11.900 And this is freaking expensive.
00:04:13.300 And the contract's up.
00:04:14.500 And we're merging.
00:04:15.340 And we're looking for profits.
00:04:16.840 You know what?
00:04:17.520 That one's gone.
00:04:18.460 He's got to go.
00:04:19.320 But guess what?
00:04:19.900 In denial, they do that.
00:04:21.160 Now you circle all that around.
00:04:22.480 Why am I bringing that up?
00:04:23.280 It's because the value that was being paid there, a quarter of a billion dollars, is not much more.
00:04:29.840 And if they're really looking to place her, like buy the whole thing and then place her into CBS News,
00:04:36.340 they're trying to reach in to the bloggers, which have become podcasters, which have become very influential.
00:04:46.560 And they're trying to put one of those in CBS to bolster it.
00:04:50.480 Remember, what they're trying to do is avoid the ongoing decline of CBS News.
00:04:55.360 And so what do they do?
00:04:56.620 Hey, what if we buy one of these companies, PBD?
00:04:59.440 What if we plug it into CBS News?
00:05:01.400 Will everybody come watch because now we have one of the popular conservative people here?
00:05:07.980 And I see what's going on there.
00:05:09.840 And the other side, I think Sagar's on to something.
00:05:12.740 Does somebody also say, well, and this also could be an opportunity to put a pro-Israel voice on CBS News,
00:05:20.680 which has been leaning in favor of Palestinian protests and supporting Palestinian protests
00:05:26.540 and not talking about the risk to students.
00:05:28.500 And now the entire Ivy League, except Dartmouth, is under investigation by the Trump administration for those kind of anti-Semitic,
00:05:35.900 not anti-Semitic by the administration, but allowing anti-Semitic things to be happening on campus
00:05:41.580 and not stepping in to protect students and protect Jewish people and protect Jewish speakers, professors there.
00:05:51.400 So that's what I see.
00:05:53.040 CBS News plugging this in.
00:05:55.520 They get a little Israel out of it.
00:05:56.780 They get a little podcast out of it.
00:05:58.060 Does David Ellison ultimately pay $250 million for it?
00:06:02.560 And Sagar's right.
00:06:03.680 This podcast and others are running businesses.
00:06:06.540 And we think we do the best job.
00:06:09.060 Yeah.
00:06:09.340 So that was your point?
00:06:11.760 Yeah.
00:06:12.300 Oh, you're done.
00:06:12.740 Okay.
00:06:13.120 Got it.
00:06:13.880 Okay.
00:06:14.540 So, you know, on a story like this, I looked at HuffPol when Arianna Huffington sold HuffPol,
00:06:21.220 what she sold it for.
00:06:22.580 She sold it to AOL years ago.
00:06:24.740 Their top-line revenue was around $60 million.
00:06:26.540 They sold over five times revenue.
00:06:29.760 They sold for $315 million.
00:06:32.300 They sold 10 times earnings, okay?
00:06:35.340 But five times revenue.
00:06:37.460 So you're doing $60 million a year.
00:06:39.100 AOL came in and said, I'll pay you $315 million.
00:06:41.480 They picked up HuffPol.
00:06:42.960 The company's dropped.
00:06:43.960 They don't have the same amount of revenue.
00:06:45.140 They're about to lay off a bunch of different editors right now.
00:06:47.440 They announced in January 2025, it would cut about 30 editorial rolls, representing 22%
00:06:53.060 of the newsroom, which means 22% means one-fifth.
00:06:56.340 That means they have 150 people.
00:06:58.700 A fifth is being fired.
00:07:00.040 Say, you know, 30 is going to be fired.
00:07:02.740 They're letting go.
00:07:03.360 So HuffPol is not getting the same amount of viewership they used to get back in the days
00:07:06.340 in 2000.
00:07:06.680 Now, back in 2008, 9-10, HuffPol was like the place to be.
00:07:10.500 Of course.
00:07:10.660 It was doing great.
00:07:12.320 I think I sat down with her right after she sold the business.
00:07:14.700 We had a great conversation together.
00:07:15.940 And I even think she ran for governor one time going up against Arnold.
00:07:21.620 I even think she debated Arnold one time for a governor race, if I'm not mistaken.
00:07:24.760 Can you verify that?
00:07:25.520 I may be fully wronged, and I'm thinking about somebody else.
00:07:28.340 But did she ever?
00:07:29.380 No, I don't know if she ran.
00:07:30.240 Did she ever?
00:07:30.820 No.
00:07:30.980 Did she run for her?
00:07:32.060 No, that was somebody else, I think, that ran.
00:07:33.800 But let me see here.
00:07:34.640 Did she debate some conversations?
00:07:36.700 Who was the person that he debated that was a media space?
00:07:39.660 I don't know if it was her.
00:07:40.540 It could have been somebody else.
00:07:41.500 But the point is, free press today.
00:07:44.040 What is free press's top-line revenue, Tom?
00:07:46.180 Do we know?
00:07:47.500 I've not seen what I would call as a reliable disclosure.
00:07:50.240 So, top-line revenue.
00:07:52.120 Let's see where it's at right now.
00:07:53.460 What is free press's top-line revenue?
00:07:56.120 Can you see that?
00:07:57.600 So, free press's reported total revenue.
00:08:00.400 Are you joking?
00:08:01.500 Oh, man.
00:08:02.400 So, if they got a $6 million revenue, and somebody pays five times revenue, it's a $30 million business.
00:08:10.620 Not a $250 million business.
00:08:12.500 So, if we use comparisons, like, you know how you sell on a house, you say, comp, my house is worth $2 million.
00:08:18.980 Why?
00:08:19.280 Because next-door neighbor is 100 square feet smaller than mine, and that's all for $1.9 million.
00:08:23.720 I believe I'm a $2 million business.
00:08:25.000 Okay, cool.
00:08:25.500 You can do the math.
00:08:26.200 Yeah.
00:08:26.340 But if HuffPo was sold at a quarter of a billion dollars, at a $60 million revenue, one-tenth of free press, they're worth, at best, $30 million.
00:08:40.740 At best is what they're worth is $30 million.
00:08:42.780 But, by the way, guess what?
00:08:45.740 I'm not upset at her asking for a quarter of a billion dollars.
00:08:48.280 If somebody is willing to pay a quarter of a billion dollars, guess what?
00:08:51.320 Good payday for her.
00:08:52.480 She went up and made her $250 million.
00:08:54.360 Whatever the numbers are that other people pick up, we don't have a problem with that.
00:08:57.740 But the point of where I'm going with this, we went from the story of Epstein to the story of—and, by the way, the people that are forcing the Epstein story to be in there is actually not mainstream media.
00:09:08.480 Believe it or not, the people that are making Epstein's story stay there is who?
00:09:11.860 Podcasters.
00:09:12.980 Podcasters are now becoming like, give me a break.
00:09:15.580 Can you guys stop talking about it?
00:09:16.900 Why are you talking about this?
00:09:17.860 Then he goes to Russia.
00:09:19.460 Then he goes to Cuomo, who was one of the faces, saying, I was wrong.
00:09:22.880 We don't know what it is.
00:09:23.620 Maybe we'll invite him and have—I'm on the podcast to have a conversation with him.
00:09:26.620 I'm sure something's going to get scheduled here to have a month and play the clip opening and saying, what were you wrong about?
00:09:31.720 And then you go into Barry Weiss, quarter of a billion dollars saga, saying, I don't know if it's good or not.
00:09:37.480 Who knows what's going to happen there?
00:09:39.040 And this leads me to the next one.
00:09:40.400 I got a call.
00:09:42.000 I won't disclose the name until the story comes out because I'm trying to see if this is going to be a hit piece or not.
00:09:47.740 I got a call from a very well-known New York Times person that she wanted a conversation with me.
00:09:55.100 And we came down.
00:09:56.120 We ended up having a three-hour conversation about a lot of different things.
00:10:01.260 And I sat there, and she says, I'm going to be recording this conversation.
00:10:04.740 I said, I'm also going to be recording the conversation.
00:10:07.140 No problem.
00:10:07.660 So everything we talked about was all recorded that I have.
00:10:12.020 Everything.
00:10:13.220 And we talked about industry.
00:10:14.660 What do you think about this company?
00:10:15.860 What do you think about that company?
00:10:16.980 What do you think about this company?
00:10:18.080 What do you think about that company?
00:10:19.540 Back and forth.
00:10:20.900 I was told right off the bat, everybody told me to not meet with you.
00:10:25.580 I told her that she'll probably say this herself.
00:10:27.340 I probably told her that ten times, that everybody told me not to meet with you.
00:10:32.300 I said, they told me it's not a good idea.
00:10:34.020 They said to shun away.
00:10:35.400 They said you're the worst.
00:10:36.640 They said you go after people.
00:10:37.920 They say you don't tell the truth.
00:10:39.240 They say you lie.
00:10:40.000 They say you exaggerate.
00:10:41.720 Who said that?
00:10:42.880 I said, I'm not going to give you a single name.
00:10:44.680 But all I'm telling you is people that I trust that I have a relationship with, they don't trust you.
00:10:48.160 But I'm willing to sit down with everybody and have a very basic rule.
00:10:51.440 You'll always have access to me if you're respectful to me.
00:10:53.720 The moment you exaggerate and misrepresent what I said, you'll never get a hold of me.
00:10:59.080 It's very simple how I work.
00:11:00.280 If I can't get a hold of you and we have a relationship together, and then you want me to be accessible to you, I'll always be accessible to you.
00:11:06.980 The moment you take that for granted, we don't need a relationship.
00:11:09.660 I'm moving on and going to a different place.
00:11:11.700 And this applies to people in the media space because the media people all talk to each other.
00:11:15.120 But for whatever reason, it is very nasty and ugly in this space.
00:11:19.840 It's so ugly and nasty in a very different way.
00:11:22.360 Because everyone's like, well, that guy's podcast is thrown down, and this guy's podcast is this, and that guy's streamers, and that guy's, everyone's talking like that.
00:11:28.980 Summer is here.
00:11:30.480 Future Looks Bright gear.
00:11:31.760 We have the matching shirts with the hats, gang.
00:11:35.160 So, Rob, if you can go to it where people can see it.
00:11:37.840 No, you just had to go.
00:11:39.560 If you go back one where it shows the homepage, right there.
00:11:42.840 So, to match in, if you can shop the collection, the hats, the shirts, the colors matching with each other.
00:11:48.520 This is the shirt that Vinny wears.
00:11:49.940 The black Future Looks Bright shirt right there with the silver one.
00:11:52.700 Oh, I love that.
00:11:53.320 Every time I see it, because that's elevated, right, off the shirt.
00:11:56.360 It's raised off the shirt.
00:11:57.340 It's sick.
00:11:57.680 So, if you go up a little bit, I don't know if that one's an elevator or not.
00:12:00.400 Go a little bit higher, Rob, but the hats, the other way, Rob, if you go.
00:12:03.440 Oh, those are the ones that are elevated.
00:12:04.520 These are so sick.
00:12:05.320 Look at that.
00:12:06.400 Matching.
00:12:06.820 So, summertime, go sport your future.
00:12:08.940 Yesterday, we're walking around Vegas.
00:12:10.720 Guy's got Valuetainment shirt on, Valuetainment hats on.
00:12:12.900 It's awesome.
00:12:13.500 Now, we're seeing it all over the place, and I'm getting a bunch of pictures being sent my way.
00:12:17.240 So, go to vtmerch.com, place your order.
00:12:19.580 And number two, we are officially, we were at Gaylord last week, Orlando, at the conference where the Vol Conference will be held,
00:12:28.840 and at the hotel where the Vol Conference will be held.
00:12:30.800 We are officially 35 days away from nearly 12,000 people coming together at the Vol Conference at the Gaylord.
00:12:39.140 The hotel looks amazing.
00:12:40.280 The number of networking opportunities, absolutely insane.
00:12:44.480 Whether you're an AI, real estate, private equity, you're trying to raise money.
00:12:48.520 You're trying to deploy money to some people.
00:12:50.900 Great place to come.
00:12:52.040 If you haven't yet bought your tickets, the top two-tier tickets are about to sell out.
00:12:56.060 Of course, you can get your general tickets, but the best tickets are typically the executive and the CEO and founder for you to sit closely and network with others.
00:13:03.760 There's going to be a lot of big announcements that we'll be making.
00:13:05.580 Tony Robbins will be there.
00:13:06.940 Martha Stewart will be there.
00:13:08.340 David Falk will be there.
00:13:09.580 And a couple other surprises that we'll only be revealing while you're there.
00:13:13.000 If you haven't yet registered, go to thevaultconference.com.
00:13:16.160 Once again, to thevaultconference.com.
00:13:19.980 I believe the prices are increasing this Friday.
00:13:23.640 So get your tickets before the prices increase by the end of this week and get your hotels this way as well at the Gaylord because everybody will be there.
00:13:30.540 If you enjoyed this video, you want to watch more videos like this, click here.
00:13:33.120 And if you want to watch the entire podcast, click here.