The Demise of Rolling Stone: How A Legendary Magazine Sold Out to Trump and the Saudis

[Celerity]

https://hillreporter.com/the-demise-of-rolling-stone-96880

Rolling Stone magazine was once a shining beacon of rebellion. Devoted to telling the truth about its subjects, the publication has often caused controversy throughout its more than fifty years. But in more recent years, the magazine has seen its share of bad publicity in light of bad decision making, which led to the ultimate bad decision: Rolling Stone was sold to the son of Trump-backing multimillionaire Roger Penske, Jay Penske. Jay is a high-profile GOP donor who fired tenured and experienced journalists, then hired hacks to write tabloid level pieces that leaned so far to the right, he was awarded a Presidential Medal from the former guy himself. One member of Penske’s stable is Seth Hettena, a freelance journalist who encouraged people to donate to Trump in 2016 and whose tweets have emerged showing he’s against a living wage and also mocked the SEIU for fighting for $15 an hour. Hettena is a journalist who is also known for going after the likes of Erik Prince and Blackwater. One might infer that Hettena now appears corrupted by the very forces he once sought to investigate.



Hettena recently contacted MeidasTouch, the PAC founded by the Meiselas Brothers, with a list of accusations he was about to write in an article specifically crafted to defame them. Hettena demanded an explanation, but MeidasTouch simply tweeted a reply. And now Hettena’s attempts to smear and silence a group who are clearly seen as a threat to Republicans has just backfired, as the spotlight is now not just on him, but the practices of his boss and his son, Jay Penske, who now runs the magazine.



Jay Penske lives the millionaire playboy lifestyle, with a supermodel wife and a lot of wealthy friends. He was once arrested with his brother in Nantucket for assaulting a woman and urinating on her. But the most compelling thing about Jay Penske is that both he and his father have close ties to the Saudis. Jay Penske took $200 million from a Saudi Arabian government-backed company, SRMG, but has neither explained the loan nor the relationship. And Penske Media Corporation, which employs hundreds of journalists at Variety, Deadline, The Robb Report, WWD and others as well as Rolling Stone, has never publicly addressed the investment tie to the regime, either to defend or explain it. But Rolling Stone did report that Mohammed Bin-Salman (MBS), who is directly connected to the murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi, acquired a $500 million stake in LiveNation, the biggest producer of live events and concerts in America, via the Saudia Arabian Sovereign Wealth Fund. Seeing as Jay Penske was seen partying with MBS and others aboard his yacht immediately after Khashoggi’s murder, it’s assumed that some or possibly all of the $200 million Jay Penske received was from MBS as well.

Link to tweet

Jay was also in the Oval Office the day his father Roger was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the former guy. So what we have is a smear campaign written by a freelance journalist who hates unions but is writing for a publication owned by a Trump shill who parties with the Saudis. Both Rolling Stone and Hettena are also now targeting the vendors who work with MeidasTouch.

Link to tweet

[msongs]

1. sounds like a republican led attack does it not nt

[Hekate]

2. My gods, I had no idea Rolling Stone had been sold, much less to a RWer like Penske...

Another one “building a media empire,” and mowing down all opposition.

[electric_blue68]

3. Me either! Yikes 😔

I'm stunned.

I'm still stunned.
Maybe because RS is partly based in NYC or it already was. And been arounrd for ? 50 years. I've read and bought it off and on for a long time. Day-um! 🙁

[LittleGirl]

4. Same! nt

[Unknown Beatle]

5. Welp, I guess it's time

to cancel my Rolling Stone subscription, set to expire in June 2023. I had no idea that it was sold to reich-wingers. Pisses me off that Jann Wenner would sell to those type of people. It's all about the money.

[hlthe2b]

7. Ditto. That one breaks my heart.

[Celerity]

12. Penske bought a controlling share at the end of 2017, bought the remainder

around a year later.

[Hugin]

13. At one point the posts here at DU sourced from Rolling Stone rivaled those from Vanity Fair...

Then, poof. I hadn't seen any in a couple of years.

Now I know what happened and people noticed. If that reduction in readership is a reflection across the spectrum the only thing keeping RS afloat these days is Saudi MBS money.

:spits:

[Maxheader]

6. Yeah it's sad.

They come and they go. Wonder if they'll leave

the archives alone?...

[hlthe2b]

8. That would be one of the most valuable aspects of Rolling Stone, but they are so damned well-funded

by malicious actors, they likely don't care.

[dmr]

9. This makes me sick to my stomach

I guess it's time to cancel my subscription.

Tbh, I don't always get around to read it unless an email they send out sparks my interest, but I do subscribe to be supportive, and to have access to their archives. I will not support a right winger. No way, no how!

[Vinca]

10. That's really too bad. We subscribed to Rolling Stone for years and years and

finally threw in the towel when they decided to change the format to a giant magazine that mostly contained ads. It used to be great.

[dalton99a]

11. Kick

[bullwinkle428]

14. Ugh. I've been a follower of motorsport for nearly 50 years, and had

no idea of Penske's sleazy ties to the Saudis. Thanks for bringing all of this shit into the light!

[Boomerproud]

15. K&R and bookmarking for exposure.

Jan Wenner is an ass. RS wasn't just a music mag (though a damn good one when rock was king) but their investigative pieces were the best. How did counter-culture sell out to oligarchs?

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. Simple. Wenner is 74. He has 6 kids and a long term partner

He's had a heart attack, triple bypass surgery and a broken hip. He sold to the highest bidder so that when he died, his heirs can split the cash rather than fight for control of the magazine. He's always been an ass, but he was an ass that somehow created an iconic magazine, in between snorting lines of coke.

[honest.abe]

16. Wonder what Matt Taibbi will do... (updated)

Can't imagine he would continue in his past roll with these guys in charge.

Update..

In April 2020, Taibbi announced he would no longer publish his online writing through Rolling Stone, and henceforth, would publish his online writing independently through the e-mail newsletter service Substack. He stated that he would continue to contribute print features for Rolling Stone and maintain the Useful Idiots podcast with Katie Halper. Taibbi's stated that the decision was independent and that he was not asked to leave Rolling Stone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Taibbi

[EndlessWire]

17. Music for the thread

[TheBlackAdder]

18. Hah! Guess what came in the mail today? RollingStone "Welcome Back Savings Offer-Low Rate $29.95"

.

I was just wondering if the subscription I got my daughter expired. Oh, she doesn't want it now.



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