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You’ve Got No Mail: California Governor Gavin Newsom with Puck co-founder and Editor-in-Chief Jon Kelly, who oversees Air Mail at The Puck Penthouse: A WHCA Dinner Pre-Event at The Hepburn on April 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Shannon Finney/Getty Images for Puck)
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, Tom Clare and Libby Locke, the husband and wife team behind law firm Clare Locke, have put pen to paper, chasing another journalist and publication over a piece that is yet to be published. Clare is acting on behalf of “The Tell” author Amy Griffin, and tonight we reveal who he has been hounding and why the journalist involved has now had to walk the story to another publication that has vast legal resources.
Also, another top exec is leaving ABC News, the fallout after MS NOW makes a highly embarrassing blunder, and we have scene reports from FT Journalist James Fontanella Khan’s farewell and New York magazine's bathhouse bash (where guests did keep their clothes on).
Finally, if you’re already starting to think about a job shift in 2027, we have your head start with our hand-crafted picks for the best Journo and Comms gigs going. Tonight we feature opportunities at: The Bulwark, The New York Times, Architectural Digest, Semafor, Forbes, The Daily Beast, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal.
Mentioned tonight: David Haskell, Sam Hine, Andrew Edgecliffe Johnson, Dana Cimiluca, Jennifer Zuccarelli, Paul Taubman, Antonio Weiss, Becky Peterson, Serena Saitto, Leon Kalvaria, Ethan A. Klingsberg, Anna Nicolaou, Antoine Gara, Kaye Wiggins, Candace Owens, Patrick Healy, Mark Kleinman, Ben Mullin, Randall Lane, Emily Sundberg, Griffin Gaffney, Emine Sinmaz, Timothy Kelly, Joe Flint, Jessica Toonkel, Nicole Noren, Danny Funt, Philip Wegmann, Alexandra Bruell, Katie Zacharia, Joanna Coles, Gisele Pelicot, Tucker Carlson, Michael Grynbaum, John Koblin, Matthew Schneier, Erik Maza, Alexis Swerdloff, Jeffrey Deitch, Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Audrey Taylor, Ken Dilanian, Rich Cohen, Joleene Altum, Katherine Rosman, Elisabeth Egan, Jennifer Connelly, and more.
Return to Sender
(Exclusive.) On Wednesday, Clare Locke, the husband-and-wife defamation duo, well known for penning scary letters to media organizations and who boast about "killing stories," made an announcement.
Their company was teaming up with Schillings, the UK law firm known for helping the rich and powerful take on the media, including with the use of "super-injunctions". The two firms are setting up a “private investigations and intelligence business” called CLS Vision that will be co-led by a former CIA official.
The FT reported that CLS Vision declined to comment on whether it would investigate journalists (It is well known that other investigative practices such as Kroll decline to target journos) but said it was “very focused” on helping clients who were the target of disinformation and smear campaigns. The new firm will take a particular interest in so-called “junk news” sites that can resemble legitimate news outlets but allow people to pay to publish false information.
A noble cause, no doubt, for Clare Locke founders Tom Clare and Libby Locke. But we are amazed here at Breaker that the pair have time to devise new business strategies and to pay homage to Dick Tracy when they have their hands full with clients. On their books already are Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron (suing Candace Owens for defamation), Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Bill Ackman.
Their latest letter-writing campaign has been to Air Mail (now majority-owned by Red Bird’s big birdie Gerry Cardinale) regarding a story they were working on about “The Tell” author Amy Griffin.
Air Mail’s Writer-at-Large Rich Cohen had…
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⁘ As credited in The New York Times, CNBC, Axios, The New York Post, CNN, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and more.
In Plain Sight
(Exclusive.) Another top exec is leaving the Mickey Mouse network, Breaker has learned. ABC News'…
Support fearless independent journalism.
The rest of this newsletter is for paid subscribers.
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⁘ As credited in The New York Times, CNBC, Axios, The New York Post, CNN, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and more.