LA Times owner rips ex-CNN star Oliver Darcy as ‘so-called reporter’ during ‘combative’ interview about pro-Trump commentator
The billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times abruptly ended an interview with “so-called reporter” Oliver Darcy after the ex-CNN journalist pressed him about his decision to hire pro-Trump commentator Scott Jennings to serve on the editorial board of the left-leaning broadsheet.
Darcy, who launched his standalone newsletter Status after leaving CNN in August, reported on Tuesday that his phone interview with Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong was ended after the “conversation grew combative.”
Last month, Soon-Shiong blocked his editorial board from publishing an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris — similar to the move made by Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos. In both cases, editorial staffers resigned in protest and readers cancelled their subscriptions in anger.
Both Soon-Shiong and Bezos have stated their wish to diversify their newspapers’ respective editorial boards and opinion pages by hiring more right-leaning voices.
Darcy reached out to Soon-Shiong in response to an X post in which the Times publisher wrote that he brought Jennings to his paper’s editorial board because he wanted to staff it with “experts who have thoughtful balanced views.”
According to Darcy, he reached out to the Times for comment on Soon-Shiong’s X post. A personal spokesperson of Soon-Shiong then reached out to Darcy to see if he wanted to interview the billionaire directly.
The phone interview would be on the record and there would be no restrictions, according to Status. A summary of the article was reported by Mediaite.
“The interview began warmly enough,” wrote Darcy. “I thanked Soon-Shiong for his time and asked him what he intends to do with the Times’ editorial board.”
Soon-Shiong replied that he wanted a revamped editorial board that he would build “from scratch” so that it would represent “all voices” that would include “some truly critical thinkers, thoughtful people, onto the board” who “can voice opinion, but I’m hopeful that people voice opinion based on the facts.”
The Times owner praised Jennings for his “interactions” on CNN where he often is outnumbered “five to one” against “the left.” Soon-Shiong said he was impressed with how Jennings was “respectful” and “thoughtful” in expressing his point of view on the air.
But Darcy took issue with Soon-Shiong, saying that it was “very debatable” whether Jennings was “respectful to his fellow panelists.”
Darcy then blasted Jennings for his “dishonest” commentary. He wrote that Jennings’ career “hinges on defending a politician (President-elect Donald Trump) who subjects the populace to an endless stream of lies and conspiracy theories.”
“It was when I attempted to broach this topic with Soon-Shiong that our conversation grew combative,” Darcy wrote.
According to Darcy, Soon-Shiong said it was the reporter’s “opinion” that Trump “lies more than other politicians.”
Darcy wrote that Soon-Shiong “didn’t apparently appreciate” his claim that “the depths of [Trump’s] dishonesty have been well-documented by fact-based news organizations.”
According to Darcy, the Times owner “scolded” him for making “a statement.”
“If you want to talk about Donald Trump, that’s not the conversation I started with,” a “clearly annoyed” Soon-Shiong is reported to have told Darcy.
Darcy, who noticed that the interview “had without a doubt gone sideways,” sought to “get things back on track” and to “reel it back in.”
But Soon-Shiong “interjected once more” and slammed Darcy as a “so-called reporter,” according to Darcy.
When Darcy then asked Soon-Shiong about “MAGA voices” that could be added to the editorial board, Soon-Shiong’s spokesperson, who was listening in on the conversation, interjected: “I think we have pretty much answered all the questions that you have.”
“No, to be honest, you haven’t answered all the questions I have,” Darcy reported that he told the spokesperson.
But Soon-Shiong’s rep “ended the interview, signaling to [his boss] to hang up the phone.”
Darcy told The Post: “It takes a lot more than a weak insult to bother me. Clearly, my questions were getting under his skin and so he resorted to tossing an insult. I think it actually revealed quite a bit about him.”
He said it was his job to “interrogate power” and that he will “never shy away from, respectfully, asking tough questions to those who have it.”
“That’s what I did when interviewing Patrick and what I would do again, if given the opportunity,” Darcy said.
“If he wanted a safe space, he came to the wrong place.”
The Post has sought comment from Soon-Shiong.
