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Can someone call my agent(s)? C.E.O of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, and special correspondent at Vanity Fair, Nick Bilton, speak onstage at Day 1 of the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit 2018. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
Welcome to the latest edition of Breaker. If this email has been forwarded, you can subscribe here and send your questions and complaints here. If you have a tip contact the 24/7 Breaker Tip Hotline via text or Signal # 551 655 2343. Anonymity guaranteed!
In tonight’s edition, with the stench of death still lingering following the “60 Minutes” bloodbath, the three remaining correspondents, Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, and Jon Wertheim, have been left to ponder their futures in the wake of the program's gutting. With a September season launch deadline already looming, tonight, we name the potential replacements to fill “60 Minutes’” gaping holes, and there are some surprising names in the mix.
Also, on Tuesday, we revealed that Nick Bilton, the “savior” of “60 Minutes”, had eight different agents on call for any Bilton-related requests. After Breaker hit inboxes, suddenly Bilton’s agents became very uncontactable. Find out below what happened to the disappearing swathe of agents.
Plus, we name names in a scene report from Jessica Lessin’s exclusive Off The Record conference in Jackson Hole this week – find out tonight who made the cut and who were the big hitters speaking at the event.
And Dow Jones announces layoffs, NYT promotes one of its own, and The Daily Wire is working overtime to keep one of its biggest stars.
Finally, it’s Thursday, which means Journo (and Comms) Jobs is back. Tonight we have gigs at: WNYC, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, The New York Times, and CNN.
Mentioned tonight: Meredith Kopit Levien, Emma Tucker, Piers Morgan, Byron Allen, Dave Jorgenson, Katie Drummond, Joseph Kahn, Gilbert Cruz, Liz Harris, Simon Wells, Mike Richards, Jeremy Boreing, Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Parag Agrawal, Ted Sarandos, Josh Kushner, Shayne Coplan, Sriram Krishnan, James Murdoch, Matt Kaminski, Mat Honan, Kevin Delaney, Iz Harris, Rebecca Blumenstein, S. Mitra Kalita, Claire Howorth, Jesse Angelo, Jamie Heller, Peter Kafka, Janice Min, Anna Palmer, Nicholas Carlson, Ben Smith, Peter Spiegel, Sarah Longwell, Carrie Budoff Brown, Chris Balfe, Noah Shachtman, Jessica Lessin, Josh Rudnick, Drew Welborn, Katinka Matson, Clara Molot, Clarissa Ward, Brian Steinberg, Michael Savage, Tina Jordan, Maggie Pisacane, Liam Buckley, Ryan Feldman, Dani Potter, Tom Wellington, Scott Pelley, Nick Bilton, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Bill Whittaker, Jon Wertheim, Lesley Stahl, Bari Weiss, Scott Pelley, Sharon Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, Anderson Cooper, Matthew Rosenberg, Charles Forelle, Norah O'Donnell, Major Garrett, Matt Gutman, Tony Dokoupil, Holly Williams, Jo Ling Kent, Tanya Simon, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, Sebastian Mallaby, and Marc Rosen and more.
60 Excuses
(Exclusive.) On Thursday afternoon, new “60 Minutes” executive arsonist/firefighter Nick Bilton attempted to put out the five-alarm blaze he had helped start.
“It has been a trying and difficult few days, I know that,” Bilton, stating the bleeding obvious, told his battle-weary troops. “I've spent a lot of time in conversation with many of you, and especially in consultation with Lesley, Bill, and Jon.”
So let’s start there tonight. The future of all three remaining correspondents has been the topic of much debate. Breaker understands Lesley Stahl, 84, is expected to stay with the show that she has been a part of for a quarter of a century. As for Bill Whittaker and Jon Wertheim (who has almost been like the forgotten Beatle this week, referred to simply as “the sports guy”), they are still deciding what comes next.
CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss has been meeting with prospective replacements for the “fired three” (Scott Pelley, Sharon Alfonsi, and Cecilia Vega, along with Anderson Cooper, who left the show earlier this year as Breaker first reported).
One of the names in the mix, who has met with Weiss, is …
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Bilton’s Entourage
(Exclusive.) On Tuesday, we revealed that new “60 Minutes” executive arsonist/firefighter Nick Bilton had eight – yes, eight – agents representing him. How did we know that? A link to the contact page on Bilton’s website lists them all. Within hours of Breaker landing in Inboxes – and in the midst of Bilton firing Scott Pelley – the contact page disappeared.
“We couldn't find the page you were looking for. This is either because: There is an error in the URL entered into your web browser. Please check the URL and try again. The page you are looking for has been moved or deleted,” the page now reads.
Surely Bilton – in the midst of one of the biggest crises engulfing his new employer – did not have time to delete it or instruct someone to do so? This must have been the internet gremlins!
So we asked the Breaker boffin for their help to find Bilton’s contact page so the former New York Times scribe knows who to contact about what upcoming side projects he is working on (after all, it must get confusing when you have eight agents).
So Nick, for TV projects, Tom Wellington and Dani Potter are your WME representatives. If it's film stuff (such as your project with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), best to contact Ryan Feldman or Liam Buckley. Documentaries? Like the ones that you’re going to be putting on the air (hopefully) at “60 Minutes,” Maggie Pisacane is your person. For books, you have Katinka Matson at Brockman, and for podcasts, it's Drew Welborn.
Oh, and don’t forget you also have a manager! That’s Josh Rudnick at MOSAIC, who no doubt helps manage all your agents.
On The Record
(Exclusive.) It’s the super secret media confab whose list of attendees is a guide of who is hot – and who is not – in media.
Jessica Lessin’s annual Off The Record conference was held in the ritzy Wyoming ski town of Jackson Hole this week, with the free press’s best and brightest solving the problems of the industry in just a matter of days.
So who made the cut? Breaker has learned the New York Times’ Joe Kahn and Noah Shachtman, Red Seat Venture’s Chris Balfe, Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown, The Bulwark’s Sarah Longwell, The Washington Post’s Peter Spiegel, Seamfor’s Ben Smith, Dynamo’s Nicholas Carlson, Punchbowl’s Anna Palmer, The Ankler’s Janice Min, Business Insider’s Peter Kafka and Jamie Heller, Checker Media’s Jesse Angelo, Vanity Fair’s Claire Howorth, URL Media’s S. Mitra Kalita, NBC’s Rebecca Blumenstein, Filmmaker Iz Harris, SF Standard’s Kevin Delaney, MIT Tech Review’s Mat Honan and former Politico EIC Matt Kaminski were all there.
The panel of pundits heard from newly minted New York magazine owner James Murdoch, Trump’s …
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⁘ As credited in The New York Times, CNBC, Axios, The New York Post, CNN, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and more.