‘Catch & Kill’ Pecker out at publisher

David Pecker has pulled out of American Media for good.

The 68-year-old media tycoon — whose 20-year reign as the owner of the National Enquirer got mired in scandals over “catch and kill” tactics to bury damaging stories about President Trump — has stepped down as chief executive of the supermarket tabloid’s owner, the company said Friday.

The media tycoon is exiting as part of a deal to combine American Media — which also publishes celebrity-focused titles like Us Weekly and Star — with a wholesale distribution company as part of a debt-restructuring deal arranged by Chathan Asset Management, a hedge fund that owns 80 percent of American Media.

A longtime friend of President Trump, Pecker was involved in making hush-money payments to two women who claimed they had affairs with the future president. Pecker became entangled in a fresh controversy in February when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos claimed that Pecker and the National Enquirer were trying to blackmail Bezos over his affair with Lauren Sanchez.

Under the restructuring unveiled late Friday, the wholesale distributor is being renamed Accelerate 360. In addition to magazines, it also distributes candy, gum, health bars, mini-hand sanitizers and other items sold at 55,000 retail outlets nationally.

The publishing side will be called A360Media and continue to publish the Enquirer, Star, Life & Style, OK! and other titles. It will be headed by exgroup publisher Chris Scardino, who said Pecker will be a senior adviser, “effective immediately.”