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“In a comparatively brief time period, David Zaslav has turn out to be maybe probably the most hated man in Hollywood,” Bailey wrote.

A Zaslav spokesman complained to GQ concerning the story quickly after it was revealed, in keeping with individuals near the method who spoke on the situation of anonymity to protect confidences. By early afternoon on Monday, the journal had made intensive edits to the story.

Archived variations of the unique and edited variations of the article present vital adjustments that had the impact of softening its tone. A line calling Zaslav “probably the most hated man in Hollywood” was deleted. The “Succession” comparability was eliminated, as was a section the place Bailey known as the truth exhibits that Zaslav oversaw whereas working Discovery “actuality slop.”

The ultimate paragraphs of the unique article in contrast Zaslav to the pitiless businessman performed by Richard Gere in “Fairly Girl,” with Bailey writing that the manager is “solely good at breaking issues.”

The ending of the edited article was a lot kinder to Zaslav, eradicating the “Fairly Girl” reference and easily noting that movie aficionados’ complaints have “gotten private.”

Bailey informed The Washington Publish that, after GQ made the adjustments, he requested editors to take away his byline. He stated an editor informed him that GQ wouldn’t preserve an article on its web site with out the creator’s title. By Monday afternoon, the article was eliminated fully from the positioning.

“I wrote what I felt was the story I used to be employed to write down,” Bailey stated. “After I was requested to rewrite it after publication, I declined. The rewrite that was completed was to not my satisfaction, so I requested to have my title eliminated and was informed that the choice there was to tug the article fully, and I used to be positive with that.”

In a press release, a GQ spokeswoman stated the article “was not correctly edited earlier than going reside.”

“After a revision was revealed, the author of the piece requested to have their byline eliminated, at which level GQ determined to unpublish the piece in query,” the assertion learn. “GQ regrets the editorial error that [led] to a narrative being revealed earlier than it was prepared.”

A spokesman for Warner Bros. Discovery stated it complained to GQ concerning the article as a result of Bailey didn’t ask the corporate for remark earlier than publishing.

“The freelance reporter made no try to succeed in out to Warner Bros Discovery to fact-check the substance of the piece earlier than publishing—a regular apply for any respected information outlet,” the assertion learn. “As can also be normal apply, we contacted the outlet and requested that quite a few inaccuracies be corrected. Within the technique of doing so, the editors finally determined to tug the piece.”

Bailey confirmed that he didn’t ask Warner Bros. Discovery for remark for the article, however he disputed the concept the piece contained “quite a few inaccuracies.” Bailey stated his editors at GQ by no means informed him the piece was inaccurate, and the edited model of the article didn’t include a correction.

“I believe a side-by-side comparability of the piece earlier than and after GQ’s inside edits reveals precisely what WBD needed modified, and that GQ was glad to take action,” Bailey wrote in an electronic mail to The Publish.

GQ has a company connection to Warner Bros. Discovery. The journal’s guardian firm, Condé Nast, is owned by Advance Publications, a serious shareholder in Warner Bros. Discovery. Advance Publications didn’t reply to a request for remark.

The edits and eventual deletion of the story angered high movie critics. On Twitter, author Scott Tobias stated the edited model of the story was “utterly unacceptable,” whereas critic Matt Zoller Seitz shared the archived model of Bailey’s article. Critic Hunter Harris illustrated the controversy on Twitter with a screenshot from HBO’s “The Wire” — one other Warner Bros. Discovery property — by which fan-favorite stickup artist Omar Little describes a rival operation as “very sloppy.”

The flap over the GQ article is simply the most recent controversy for Zaslav, who has presided over cuts at Warner Bros. Discovery as it really works to repay almost $50 billion in debt. The corporate’s inventory worth has fallen by about half since April 2022, when Discovery and WarnerMedia merged in a $43 billion deal.

Zaslav has additionally confronted challenges managing Warner Bros. Discovery’s most outstanding cable property, CNN. Zaslav fired his handpicked CEO, Chris Licht, in June after months of administration turmoil on the information large, culminating in Licht’s ill-advised participation in a profile within the Atlantic that recommended that Licht was out of his depth.

This text has been up to date.