National Enquirer sold to joint venture that includes ex-MoviePass official; details here

A joint venture named VVIP Ventures, owned by two digital media businesses- Vinco Ventures Inc. and Icon Publishing- will purchase the National Enquirer, the scandal-riddled supermarket tabloid that enabled a hush-money plot involving former President Donald Trump. The companies announced on Monday that VVIP Ventures has agreed to buy both the U.K. and the U.S. versions of the supermarket tabloid from magazine publisher a360 Media. The Globe and the National Examiner are also part of the purchase. However, the financial details regarding the deal were not brought to light.

The Enquirer was set to be sold by American Media to magazine distributor James Cohen for $100 million in April 2019, but the transaction never happened. American Media was rebranded as a360 Media in 2020 after merging with the Georgia-based logistics and distribution company Accelerate360 LLC. According to the companies, the editorial staff of a360 Media, which created content for the National Enquirer, National Examiner, and Globe, will also join hands with VVIP Ventures. They are also thinking about future partnerships between a360 Media and VVIP Ventures.

Rod Vanderbilt, executive chairman of Vinco, said as quoted by Wall Street Journal, “Our digital ecosystem will be critical in heightening the reputation and recognizability of the National Enquirer, National Examiner and Globe to a broader audience and the editorial team joining us from these publications will play an important role in these efforts.”

Ted Farnsworth, who oversaw the parent firm of MoviePass and has been accused of securities fraud, established Icon Publishing. Farnsworth has declared that he will battle the allegations.

Trump’s defamatory stories were buried by the Enquirer when he ran for the presidency in 2016. At the time, American Media LLC was the publication’s owner. David Pecker, the company’s CEO since 1999, approved a “catch and kill” hush-money plan orchestrated by the magazine’s former editor, Dylan Howard, to threaten women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump. But, Trump denied the connections. Later, a federal investigation into the matter revealed that Trump had instructed his personal legal advisor, Michael Cohen, to make payments to the women. Eventually, Cohen entered a guilty plea and received a jail sentence for tax evasion and violations of federal campaign finance laws.

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