These days, in the media and entertainment businesses, it seems that everyone is upset about something or somebody.
U.S. President Donald Trump is upset with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Playboy‘s Cooper Hefner and Apple’s Tim Cook (among others) are upset with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.
Financier George Soros is upset with social media, so he has divested 100,000 shares from Facebook, 10,000 shares from Amazon, 10,000 shares from Alibaba, and has reduced his Microsoft stock ownership in half to 58,000 shares.
The IFTA (which organizes the American Film Market in Santa Monica) is upset with the FCC, and wants Net Neutrality restored. The Cannes Film Festival is upset with Netflix.
Russia’s RT, the Russian government-funded broadcaster, is upset with the U.S. government because the U.S. Justice Department required it to register as a foreign agent, and the Russian parliament is expected to pass a bill requiring all media publishing or broadcasting in Russia to register as foreign agents if they receive any foreign funding.
French President Emmanuel Macron is upset with Vivendi’s Vincent Bolloré (who’s also a friend of Macron’s nemesis, disgraced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy), and who’s in a heated battle in Italy with Mediaset’s Silvio Berlusconi over Telecom Italia.
All of this is taking place during a time of Russian aggression and retaliation against the West, which could jeopardize this year’s Summer FIFA World Cup tournament in Moscow, and its multibillion-dollar television coverage. Then consider: China’s government-subsidized exports and China’s IP pilferage now heading toward a confrontation with the U.S.; the hard-and-soft Brexit negotiations; the North Korean nuclear threat; and Venezuela destabilizing LATAM. To all this, add the Saudi and Iranian military confrontation, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s clashes with Macron, Trump, the E.U., Israel, the Kurds, and the Armenians. Clearly, nowadays everyone can easily pick their upset du Jour.
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