CBS News finally returns Catherine Herridge's confidential files, but important questions remain unanswered



CBS News has finally returned Catherine Herridge's confidential files and records.

After terminating Herridge two weeks ago, CBS News came under fire when law professor Jonathan Turley revealed that CBS News officials retained possession of Herridge's confidential records stored in her office, prompting intervention from Herridge's union, SAG-AFTRA. CBS News confirmed it had possession of the files but denied that their security was compromised.

On Monday, the union announced that CBS News finally returned the files and records to Herridge.

"SAG-AFTRA is pleased to confirm that earlier today a representative of our union monitored the return of several boxes containing Catherine Herridge's reporting materials from her CBS News office in Washington, D.C," the union said in a statement. "Herridge is currently reviewing the materials."

Importantly, the union pointed out that CBS News' "reversal" only happened "after SAG-AFTRA's intervention and widespread media coverage."

For its part, CBS News claimed File-gate was normal, stemming from a "standard HR conversation about materials in her office," a network representative said.

Unfortunately for CBS News, the decision to terminate Herridge and retain control of her confidential files for about two weeks post-termination is raising eyebrows and, now, drawing scrutiny from Congress.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee sent CBS News President Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews a letter informing her the committee is launching an investigation into Herridge's termination and the retention of her records.

The committee is asking important questions and demanding answers from CBS News, including why Herridge was terminated, why her files were retained, who had access to her records after she was terminated, and whether her files were accessed in any way after Herridge was terminated.

"The unprecedented actions of CBS News threaten to chill good journalism and ultimately weaken our nation's commitment to a free press," Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote in the letter.

Herridge has not spoken publicly about her termination or the controversy surrounding her files, except to share updates from her union.

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Actors' union director expresses fear that strike is preventing LGBT propagandists from advancing their 'worldview-changing' agenda



Every day that the actors' and writers' unions remain on strike marks another day that LGBT activists in Hollywood are not producing "worldview-changing" propaganda for popular consumption, according to the national director of the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

This may come as good news to those Americans growing tired of the coordinated effort by various gatekeepers and cultural engineers in media to shoehorn unprecedented amounts of LGBT content into film and television for non-artistic reasons. However, for SAG-AFTRA director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the delays are unconscionable.

Crabtree-Ireland, a past co-president of the LGBTQ Bar Association of Los Angeles, spoke at a recent press conference announcing the LGBT activist outfit GLAAD's annual Studio Responsibility Index — an index that monitors how much non-straight content is being manufactured for film and television, always encouraging more.

The union executive noted that LGBT propaganda efforts might be set back in 2024 and beyond owing to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers' alleged unwillingness to capitulate to strikers' demands.

"The studios' and streamers' insistence on keeping the industry shut down not only harms the economies of communities that rely on motion picture production, but it's also detrimental to the pipeline of future projects that feature LGBTQ+ representation," said Crabtree-Ireland. "Though some gains have been made in recent years, storytelling that reflects the full, true spectrum of the human experience is currently under attack."

According to GLAAD's latest index, 28.5% of the 350 films released by 10 major distributors — including A24, Amazon Studios, AppleTV+, Paramount Global, and the Walt Disney Company — contained a non-straight character, "the highest number and percentage recorded in the 11 years GLAAD has conducted this study."

Forty percent of the 292 non-straight characters across the 100 "LGBTQ-inclusive" films were nonwhites; 119 were women, and 10 were individuals who rejected their biological sex.

When judging studios on the basis of how much LGBT content they peddled in 2022, NBCUniversal and Disney both scored "good" ratings, Disney having made sure 41% of its output was "LGBTQ-inclusive."

These numbers may be hard to hit if the studios prove unable to generate any content this year.

Crabtree-Ireland suggested that AMPTP companies "are complicit in this regressive push if they continue preventing artists from getting back to work and making their worldview-changing stories."

"Everyone deserves to grow up seeing their identity authentically represented in film and media," continued Crabtree-Ireland. "The companies must come back to the negotiating table, make a fair deal, get writers and performers back to work, and help all of us use the profound power of the medium — along with empowering LGBTQ+ representation — to build a better, more welcoming future for generations to come."

SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher, the "anti-capitalist" multimillionaire who decades ago starred in the CBS sitcom, "The Nanny," similarly suggested that a failure to satisfy the actors' and writers' demands amounted to a setback to "inclusive representation."

"Right now, there's a very tiny but loud segment of our population that's hard at work spreading hate and fear while attempting to squash all storytelling that showcases the full, beautiful reality of the human experience," added the Democratic 65-year-old. "The longer the AMPTP companies keep the entertainment industry shut down by refusing to come back to the bargaining table, the more risk there is for disrupting the progress that's been made in terms of inclusive representation."

At the press conference, GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis joined her comrades in underscoring what is at stake for propagandists as it pertains to the strike: "LGBTQ stories told through film have a powerful and inextricable link to culture change. With more people than ever now empowered to live authentically and openly, the cost of lost progress in LGBTQ representation on screen means erasure."

Bounding Into Comics reported that Michele Mulroney, the vice president of the similarly striking Writers Guild of America, claimed, "The stalling of the AMPTP companies for the last 136 Days, and their refusal to engage in a basic negotiating process that gives writers a fair deal, threatens to impede the progress made by LGBTQ+ writers and deny our culture of powerful, authentic LGBTQ+ stories."

CNBC indicated that Hollywood studios and the WGA may be nearing an agreement to bring the strike to an end, with negotiations restarting Thursday.

If a deal is not reached, CNBC suggested that the WGA strike, which has already gone on for over 140 days, may continue through the end of the year. That would mean that production on properties at Netflix, Disney, and Paramount, may be delayed well into 2024.

Besides preventing recycled comic book properties from being produced and the LGBT agenda from being furthered to GLAAD's satisfaction, this strike is having a significant impact on production companies' bottom lines.

Warner Bros. Discovery, among the media giants impacted, noted in a recent securities filing that it expects the company's earnings before interest and taxes to suffer a $300-$500 million hit owing to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

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Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson makes massive 'historic donation' toward SAG-AFTRA Foundation relief efforts



Actor Dwayne Johnson, often simply referred to as "The Rock," has donated a large sum of money toward SAG-AFTRA Foundation relief efforts, SAG-AFTRA President Courtney Vance noted, according to Variety.

The outlet reported that the celebrity's donation was seven figures.

"He stepped up in a major, historic way to help us because he's one of us. We support our own," Vance said, according to the outlet. "I want to thank Dwayne for his tremendous generosity, compassion, and initiative to step up in this significant and meaningful way for our community. On behalf of the thousands who will be helped by his historic donation, thank you, thank you, thank you."

"It's the largest single donation that we’ve ever received from one individual at one time," SAG-AFTRA Foundation Executive Director Cyd Wilson noted, according to Variety. "And what is amazing is that that one check is going to help thousands of actors keep food on their table, and keep their kids safe, and keep their cars running. And it's not lost on me that he’s very humble about this, but it is a way to get us started."

According to the foundation's LinkedIn profile, "the Foundation is a national non-profit organization, independent from SAG-AFTRA, and relies solely on support from grants, corporate sponsorships, and individual contributions to maintain its programs and create new ones."

SAG-AFTRA announced a strike earlier this month, a move that came after the Writers Guild of America had already announced a strike in May.

"Although SAG-AFTRA didn’t strike until 10 days ago, many of our actors' productions were shut down during the writers strike, so they've already been affected since May and we've seen an uptick in the number of requests that come in. We’re processing probably five to 10 times (of the requests for financial aid) that we would normally process in a week and think that is going to continue to increase," Wilson noted, according to Variety.

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In a hilariously blistering letter, former President Donald Trump quits the Screen Actors Guild: 'Who cares!'



Former President Donald Trump has resigned from the Screen Actors Guild, proclaiming that he no longer has any interest in being associated with the actors union.

The SAG-AFTRA board condemned Trump following the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan.6, claiming that he violated its guidelines and threatened to expel him from the union.

According to reports, the board voted "overwhelmingly" that the former president violated the union's membership guidelines.

Trump had been a member of the actors guild since 1989.

What are the details?

In a blistering Thursday letter addressed to SAG President Gabrielle Carteris — most notably known for a role in "Beverly Hills: 90210" — Trump wrote, "I write to you today regarding the so-called Disciplinary Committee hearing aimed at revoking my union membership. Who cares!"

"While I'm not familiar with your work, I'm very proud of my work on movies such as 'Home Alone 2,' 'Zoolander' and 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'; and television shows including 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,' 'Saturday Night Live,' and of course, one of the most successful shows in television history, 'The Apprentice' — to name just a few!" Trump added.

He also pointed out that while in the White House, he also "greatly helped the cable news television business" and "created thousands of jobs at networks such as 'MSDNC' and 'Fake News CNN.'"

He continued, "[This] brings me to your blatant attempt at free media attention to distract from your dismal record as a union. Your organization has done little for its members, and nothing for me — besides collecting dues and promoting dangerous un-American policies and ideas — as evident by your massive unemployment rates and lawsuits from celebrated actors, who even recorded a video asking, 'Why isn't the union fighting for me?'"

"I no longer wish to be associated with your union," he wrote. "As such, this letter is to inform you of my immediate resigning from SAG-AFTRA."

He added, "You have done nothing for me."

In a statement, Carteris and National Executive Director David Whit said, "Thank you."

You can read the letter in its entirety below.

Trump resigns from the Screen Actors Guild in letter https://t.co/DYWwdeJso3 https://t.co/TNbygGtRYA
— Paul Blumenthal (@Paul Blumenthal)1612467295.0