Rupert Murdoch’s Retirement Has Fox Insiders Stunned: “I Never Thought He’d Do It”

Sherrod’s Strategy • McCormick’s “Home” State • NYT Eyes AI [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( Rupert Murdoch’s Retirement Has Fox Insiders Stunned: “I Never Thought He’d Do It” Good morning from the Hive newsroom! Rupert Murdoch’s decision to [step down]( has stunned Fox insiders. “I never thought he’d do it,” one former exec [tells]( [longtime chronicler]( Gabriel Sherman, as various theories are being batted around. Plus, Sherman [discusses]( the industry shocker with [fellow Fox-watcher]( Brian Stelter on a special edition of Inside the Hive. Elsewhere, Abigail Tracy [checks in]( with Democratic senator Sherrod Brown about his reelection bid in increasingly red Ohio, as Caleb Ecarma [finds]( David McCormick appearing to charter flights from Connecticut for his likely Pennsylvania Senate bid. And Charlotte Klein [reports]( on The New York Times pushing reporters to be more transparent online. Thanks for reading! [rupert murdoch ]( [Rupert Murdoch’s Retirement Has Fox Insiders Stunned: “I Never Thought He’d Do It”]( By [Gabriel Sherman]( [The 92-year-old’s abrupt announcement is fueling speculation about his health—which Murdoch says is “robust”—a yet-unknown scandal, or whether another 2020-election lawsuit might have triggered the move. “This takes him out of the line of fire,” says one media executive.]( [Read more button](   [With Rupert Murdoch Stepping Down, Is a Fox Sale Possible?]( By [Brian Stelter]( [Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman discusses the media mogul’s sudden move and the future of his empire.]( [Read more button](   [Ohio’s Sherrod Brown Isn’t Sweating Out His Reelection Bid: “I Feel Good”]( By [Abigail Tracy]( [The Buckeye State might be getting redder. But with the support of the working class, whom he stood with in the UAW picket line last week, the Democrat may keep his seat. “When he talks about the dignity of work, it’s not just a slogan,” a union leader tells VF. “He actually practices that.”]( [Read more button](   [David McCormick Says He Lives in Pennsylvania. Flight Records Appear to Tell a Different Story]( By [Caleb Ecarma]( [The former hedge fund CEO, who is expected to announce another Senate bid, seems to spend much of his time in a $16 million Connecticut mansion. That is, when he isn’t taking private planes to his “home” state.]( [Read more button](   [In the AI Age, The New York Times Wants Reporters to Tell Readers Who They Are]( By [Charlotte Klein]( [The paper is rolling out enhanced bios as “part of our larger mission to be more transparent,” says the Times’ Edmund Lee, and “as generative AI begins to creep into the media landscape.”]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2023 Condé Nast