Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said the company’s $75 million documentary tracking Melania Trump was a “good business decision,” though he reiterated that he was not involved in the decision to acquire the project from director Brett Ratner.
In a wide-ranging interview with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin on Wednesday morning, Bezos was asked if the document was part of an attempt to appease President Trump.
“Melania “The thing is void that won’t die. I had nothing to do with it,” Bezos responded before defending the film’s performance. “By the way, it seems like it was a good business decision. You know, it did very well in theaters. It did very well on streaming. People are very curious about Melania.”
“Although I had nothing to do with it, it appears the Amazon team made a very wise business decision,” he added. “I didn’t have any relationship either Hail Mary projectwhich I regret, because it was an incredible success. I wish I had given the green light to it.
while Melania It opened to about $8 million, and only grossed about $16.6 million at the worldwide box office. Although viewership on Prime Video isn’t exactly clear, it topped the charts on that service after its debut. The tech giant spent an estimated $40 million to buy it, and another $35 million to market it. There is also a documentary series to be released in the future to continue the story.
“Amazon is a big company and makes a lot of decisions,” Bezos said of the call. “But no, this idea that this is a way to buy influence somehow, it’s not. It’s not true. I can see why people say that. And by the way, you know, the same thing in mail. You know, I want mailThe opinion section of the site advocates for free markets, which is what I was talking to you about today, free markets and individual personal freedoms. I believe these are the founding pillars of America. This is one of the reasons why America has been so successful.”
Eventually, Sorkin pressed Bezos on the changes he had made The Washington Postwhich included drastic cuts to the newsroom.
“the mail It must be a profitable enterprise that stands on its feet. “It has to be,” Bezos said, adding that the “signals” they were getting from readers were not encouraging.
“It is an indication that we provide a relevant service. Your paper, new york times, You guys make a lot of money. “You guys are in very good shape financially, and you’re providing a service that people want to pay for,” Bezos added. “I didn’t choose who was going to be laid off or which departments. I said, follow the data, follow the data. And I said, there’s one exception to this…don’t follow data related to investigative reporting.” Heart of the mail It is investigative reporting. And guess what? Our newsroom today, even after layoffs…is still larger than it was when we did Watergate and the Pentagon Papers.
“the mail Bezos continued: “It will still be an important institution. In fact, it will be an even more important institution because of this financial discipline. It has to be relevant to readers. It has to stand on its own two feet. I don’t want it to be a charity. It doesn’t have to be that way and it shouldn’t be.”
