- Status
- Posts
- Soon-Shiong's La-La Land
Soon-Shiong's La-La Land
Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong is building out a new media venture that has had conversations about partnering with right-wing extremist Candace Owens, Status has learned.
Oliver Darcy
February 11, 2025
Patrick Soon-Shiong. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Inside the Los Angeles Times, anxiety is running high as demoralized staffers worry about buyouts and the looming threat of layoffs — all while cringing as red-pilled owner Patrick Soon-Shiong embodies the personality of a MAGA clown on social media. But while Soon-Shiong's attention in the immediate wake of the election was focused on remaking the Times, lately it has been somewhere else entirely. While forcing cost cuts at the newspaper he once promised to breathe new life into, the pharmaceutical billionaire, I'm told, has been directing his focus — and his resources — toward a new media venture.
Indeed, I'm told that Soon-Shiong has been working over the last few weeks in concert with Republican consultant Eric Beach on building out a new entity that will prominently feature digital-first personalities, many of whom will appeal to the MAGA base. The venture has tentatively been dubbed LAT Next and Soon-Shiong appears keen on launching it soon. But while it shares the Times name — and perhaps some shared services — with the newspaper, LAT Next appears to be a different entity altogether. At least, that's what staffers inside the newspaper have been told by company brass.
In any case, Soon-Shiong has himself started to tease the venture on social media. Last week, he disclosed on X that Scott Jennings, CNN's resident pro-Donald Trump sycophant, is one of the names attached to the project. I've since learned that there have been conversations about adding Candace Owens, the right-wing extremist and conspiracy theorist who parted ways with Ben Shapiro's Daily Wire after embracing antisemitic rhetoric. There have also been discussions about…
The rest of this article is for paid subscribers only.
Scoop-driven reporting and unafraid analysis.
Support journalism you believe in and get complete access to Status, which is limited to paying subscribers.
The Information Wars
Elon Musk and Donald Trump. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Pressed Out: The Associated Press and First Amendment advocates blasted the White House on Tuesday after one of the wire service's journalists was barred from attending the freewheeling Oval Office press conference held by Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The reason why? The AP has declined to call the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America" in its reporting. "It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism," The AP's executive editor, Julie Pace, said in a statement. The National Press Club called the move a "direct attack on press freedom" and Pen America said it is "an affront to the First Amendment." I'm told that the White House pool also weighed whether or not to boycott a…
The remainder of this newsletter is for paid subscribers only.
Scoop-driven reporting and unafraid analysis. See why top media professionals rely on Status.
A subscription gets you full access to our nightly newsletter, which includes:
✅ Essential reporting on and analysis of the Fourth Estate, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, the Information Wars, and more.
✅ Hand-curated links to the most consequential stories moving the needle in the key corridors of the industry.
✅ Unlimited access to our online archive where you can read previous editions of the newsletter.