GQ deletes article criticizing Warner Bros. CEO as ‘most hated man in Hollywood’ after Zaslav camp complaint
Author of piece critical of David Zaslav agreed to have story deleted after magazine made substantial changes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Men’s fashion magazine GQ edited and subsequently deleted an article criticizing Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zaslav this week following complaints from his team.
The piece by freelancer Jason Bailey blasted the powerful media executive for his handling of the company’s entertainment projects, particularly Warner Brothers’ films.
In the piece, Bailey called the CEO "perhaps the most hated man in Hollywood," a line that was removed in subsequent edits requested by someone on Zaslav’s team.
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According to a recent report, an article critical of Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav was pulled from GQ after a complaint from the Zaslav camp. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
GQ deleted the piece entirely after Bailey requested his byline be removed from the piece following pushback from the Zaslav camp.
The Washington Post reported on the timeline of the GQ article’s short lifespan, claiming that anonymous sources confirmed how a Zaslav spokesman "complained to GQ about the story soon after it was published."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The original piece included Bailey’s criticism of the media mogul over "the layoffs at the Turner Classic Movies channel that outraged prominent directors and other superfans and his decision to not release finished movies such as ‘Batgirl’ for tax purposes," the Post wrote.
Bailey also compared Zaslav to the fictional, truculent "Succession" patriarch Logan Roy.
The Post provided archive sources to the original and edited versions of the piece, noting there were "significant changes that had the effect of softening its tone."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The piece claimed, "A line calling Zaslav ‘the most hated man in Hollywood was deleted. The ‘Succession’ comparison was removed, as was a segment where Bailey called the reality shows that Zaslav oversaw while running Discovery ‘reality slop.’" Other criticisms were removed as well.
An article pulled by GQ called Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav "perhaps the most hated man in Hollywood."
Bailey told the Post that he requested GQ remove his byline from the piece once the changes were implemented, though he said an editor told him the piece would not stay on the site if his name was no longer attached to it.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}By Monday, the article was gone.
Bailey explained to the paper, "I wrote what I felt was the story I was hired to write. When I was asked to rewrite it after publication, I declined. The rewrite that was done was not to my satisfaction, so I asked to have my name removed and was told that the option there was to pull the article entirely, and I was fine with that."
The paper claimed a Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson provided a statement justifying the complaint, saying they made it because "Bailey didn’t ask the company for comment before publishing."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}They said, "The freelance reporter made no attempt to reach out to Warner Bros Discovery to fact-check the substance of the piece before publishing—a standard practice for any reputable news outlet. As is also standard practice, we contacted the outlet and asked that numerous inaccuracies be corrected. In the process of doing so, the editors ultimately decided to pull the piece."
Bailey confirmed to The Post that he did not ask for comment but disputed the claim that there were "numerous inaccuracies."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Twitter, Bailey corroborated the claims made in the Post piece, stating, "This is an accurate summary of what happened to the David Zaslzav piece I wrote for GQ."
GQ didn't respond to a request for comment.