Mittman axed as CEO of Bleacher Report
Howard Mittman is out as chief executive of Bleacher Report and Lenny Daniels — head of the sports Web site’s owner, Turner Sports — will run the site on an interim basis.
Daniels broke the stunning news to colleagues on Tuesday morning in a statement that suggests he’s been eyeing changes atop the popular-but-bawdy sports site.
“Over the last several months, I’ve given a lot of thought to how we can further grow the B/R business and set it up for long-term success,” Daniels said in announcing the news.
“As part of that process, much consideration has gone into how we can best utilize our collective Turner Sports resources to help in those efforts.
“It’s become clear to me that significant change needs to occur now,” Daniels said about the Mittman departure and Daniels will “assume overall responsibility for B/ R.” Mittman did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
He was recruited in 2017 from Condé Nast, where he was publisher of Wired Media Group, GQ and Golf Digest at a time when digital sports appeared to be booming. He joined Bleacher Report as chief revenue officer and chief marketing officer, and in February 2019 was elevated to the top spot when cofounder Dave Finocchio was ousted.
Mittman pushed to develop some premium content and e-commerce brands, but Bleacher Report, like many media outlets, has suffered from a loss of advertising during the pausing of all pro and college sports due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A spokesman at Bleacher Report said there is currently no plan to name a new CEO, and that its top executives will report to Daniels for now.
Trump book flap
For the second time in a week, a temporary restraining order is being sought to block the publication of a book that is highly critical of President Trump.
The case involves the much-talked about tell-all by Mary L. Trump, the president’s niece. “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” is set to be published by Simon & Schuster on July 28.
As the New York Times reported Tuesday, a temporary restraining order was filed by the president’s younger brother Robert in Queens Surrogate Court — the same court where the bitterly contested will of Fred Trump Sr., father of the president and grandfather of Mary, was once filed.
The suit echoes the president’s claims that Mary cannot publish due to a non-disclosure agreement filed years earlier to settle suits surrounding the will of Fred Trump.
The Times reports the niece is also expected to out herself as a chief source of Times stories about the president’s finances and inheritance.
The feud comes just days after POTUS lost his bid to block the publication of the book by his former National Security Adviser
John Bolton, citing national security concerns. In that case, the White House sought to restrain Bolton, not challenge the non-disclosure-based right to publish.
Simon & Schuster Tuesday defended the publishing of the potential bombshell book.
“As the plaintiff and his attorney well know, the courts take a dim view of prior restraint, and this attempt to block publication will meet the same fate as those that have gone before. In ‘Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man,’ Mary Trump has written a compelling personal story of worldwide significance, and we look forward to helping her tell her story,” the company said in a statement.
“The Room Where it Happened” hit bookstores Tuesday and now sits atop bestseller lists of Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
A break for AMI
American Media Inc. lenders have thrown the cash-strapped owner of the National Enquirer, Us Weekly and OK! a financial lifeline to help it survive a sales slump brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Media Ink has learned. Some 90 percent of American Media’s second-lien bondholders, who hold an estimated $225 million of the publisher’s roughly $400 million total debt, have agreed to forgo their semi-annual interest payments until their bonds mature in 2023, sources said.
The deal gives the struggling publisher — known for its sordid feud with Amazon boss Jeff Bezos — some breathing room by reducing its $36 million annual interest payments by roughly $20 million a year, sources said. “It means they will basically get to skip about $10 million in cash interest payments [at the end of June], money which they don’t have,” said a source close to the company.