(José Niño, Headline USA) Paramount is reportedly preparing to purchase The Free Press, the news site founded by journalist Bari Weiss, for more than $100 million, according to online outlet Puck.
The Times of Israel reported that David Ellison, who leads Paramount, first approached Weiss in July about acquiring The Free Press. Since then, the two sides have reached an agreement in principle and are now finalizing terms, Puck reported, citing “a source with knowledge of the negotiations.”
Neither Paramount nor Weiss has confirmed the report.
Ellison is said to be offering “well above” $100 million. The deal would also give Weiss a prominent role at CBS News, which falls under the Paramount media umbrella, per the report.
Weiss, a sharp critic of the far left, resigned from The New York Times in 2020 after claiming she was bullied by colleagues who allegedly branded her a “Nazi and a racist” and objected to her coverage of Jewish issues.
She went on to launch The Free Press in 2022, which has since gained traction as an alternative to the perceived left-wing bias of legacy outlets such as The New York Times.
Weiss is a committed advocate for the state of Israel and broader Jewish interests. In addition to her media work, Weiss has also spotlighted foreign influence operations in American institutions.
As Headline USA previously covered, she recently promoted an investigative report by Frannie Block and Jay Solomon alleging that Qatar spent “almost $100 billion to establish its legitimacy in Congress, American colleges and universities, U.S. newsrooms, think tanks, and corporations.”
Weiss previously linked Qatar to campus antisemitism in a November 2023 article, citing a study by the Network Contagion Research Institute that found universities accepting donations from Middle Eastern countries—particularly Qatar—had “300 percent more antisemitic incidents than those institutions that did not.”
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
