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Busted: Paramount gave FCC officials gifts while seeking approval for billion-dollar deal
The Gala Was the DealRegulation in Evening WearProPublica reports that FCC commissioners accepted expensive Kennedy Center tickets from Paramount while the agency was handling mergers that would make or break the company’s future. That is the basic fact pattern. The rest is decor: a black-tie event, celebrity tribute, and a regulator’s proximity to the regulated.Who Had the PowerThe power sat with the FCC, not with the performers, not with the gala, and not with the public. The commissioners could approve or block Paramount’s merger, and later shape the Warner Bros. Discovery fight. Paramount…
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