Good evening, and welcome to this week’s ‘Ragebait’!
Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest dispatches from Bari World and the right-wing industrial outrage complex. In tonight’s edition, I’ve got a scoop on Paramount axing a panel discussion about Gaza from the perspective of Arab Americans. Plus, we look at how the New York Times is “sanewashing” the president’s unhinged ramblings – again; and the ridiculous spin that CBS News is giving Tony Dokoupil’s ratings crash.
Let’s jump in.
Paramount Canceled Arab-American Gaza Panel at the Last Minute
CBS owner Paramount squashed an internal panel discussion on the Arab-American experience amid the Gaza war that featured designer and prominent pro-Palestine activist Alana Hadid – all while holding multiple pro-Israel sessions, Ragebait has learned.
Among the three separate sessions Paramount held at its annual global Inclusion Week in October 2024 that focused on antisemitism was an in-depth panel by Israeli-flag-waving CBS reporter Jonah Kaplan and featuring pro-Israel self-proclaimed “MAGA lefty” provocateur Batya Ungar-Sargon.
This all occurred just two weeks after Paramount’s owner rallied to the defense of Tony Dokoupil for outrageously painting Ta-Nehisi Coates as a terror-sympathizing extremist over the celebrated author’s sympathetic stance towards Palestine.
Based on my conversations with five former and current Paramount employees, as well as a review of communications and documents that I obtained, I’ve learned that the company’s Office of Global Inclusion (OGI) – which has since been disbanded as part of Paramount’s anti-DEI pledge to the Trump administration – nixed the Arab-American discussion on Gaza less than two days before it was scheduled to take place.