American Media Inc. has put the National Enquirer up for sale, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The news follows a rocky few years for the tabloid publication, which two months ago was accused by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos of attempting to extort him.
American Media CEO David Pecker confirmed the plan after The Washington Post reported that the company had come under “intense pressure” to part ways with the Enquirer.
“We have been keenly focused on leveraging the popularity of our celebrity glossy, teen and active lifestyle brands while developing new and robust platforms including broadcast and audio programming,” American Media President and Chief Executive David Pecker said in a statement. “Because of this focus, we feel the future opportunities with the tabloids can be best exploited by a different ownership.”
American Media is also looking to sell off the Globe and National Examiner.
The National Enquirer has been in the spotlight since it admitted to paying $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to prevent her from “influencing the election” with her allegation that she had an affair with President Donald Trump.
The Bezos story, though, was the final sticking point.
“The Trump thing was an issue, and [Anthony Melchiorre] was really disgusted by the Bezos reporting,” a source told the Post.
Melchiorre controls the $4 billion hedge fund Chatham Asset Management, which holds an 80 percent stake in American Media Inc.
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