Sumner Redstone Makes Rare Appearances at CBS, Paramount
June 15 2016 - 12:20AM
Dow Jones News
Media mogul Sumner Redstone, who has been out of the public eye
for more than a year, made appearances at two of his companies over
the past five days.
Mr. Redstone paid a visit to Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures
movie studio in Hollywood, according to a letter made public from
Viacom's lead independent director on Tuesday. He also visited CBS
Corp.'s West Coast headquarters, according to a person familiar
with the matter.
The in-person visits come at a time when Mr. Redstone is in a
legal battle with Viacom Chairman and Chief Executive Philippe
Dauman and is refusing to talk to him or the company's board of
directors. Last month, Mr. Dauman and Viacom board member George
Abrams were removed from the trust that will oversee Mr. Redstone's
controlling stakes in CBS and Viacom after he dies or is found to
be incompetent.
Messrs. Dauman and Abrams have filed suit in Massachusetts to
block their removal, claiming that the ailing 93-year-old Mr.
Redstone no longer possesses the mental capacity to make such
decisions and that his daughter Shari Redstone, also a trustee and
a vice chairman of Viacom and CBS, is secretly pulling the strings.
Ms. Redstone has denied that accusation.
Mr. Redstone went to Paramount last Friday, according to a
letter Viacom board member Frederic Salerno wrote to Mr. Redstone
on Tuesday in an attempt to re-establish communications with the
controlling shareholder. While at the studio, Mr. Redstone met
briefly with Paramount chief Brad Grey inside the van in which Mr.
Redstone was traveling, a person familiar with the matter said.
On Tuesday, Mr. Redstone also popped over to see CBS Corp.
Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves. Like his visit to Paramount, Mr.
Redstone stayed in his car and Mr. Moonves came down from his
Studio City office to chat with him for 10 to 15 minutes, a person
familiar with the meeting said.
A CBS spokesman declined to comment on the meeting.
A Viacom spokesman dismissed Mr. Redstone's recent activity as
nothing more than a stunt. "We are saddened that Sumner is now
being used for staged legal and publicity ploys," the spokesman
said.
A spokesman for Mr. Redstone declined to comment, as did a
spokeswoman for Ms. Redstone.
The emergence of the media mogul after a year of being confined
primarily to his Beverly Park mansion is seen as an effort by the
Redstone camp to show that he is in control. Although he can no
longer walk and he now travels with a team of nurses, one of whom
helps translate his stroke-impaired speech, his doctor and daughter
insist his mind is still sharp. Earlier this month, Dr. James Spar
said Mr. Redstone told him through an interpreter that Mr. Dauman
has "done a bad job running Viacom" and that Mr. Abrams was removed
from the trust because "he's not listening to me."
Messrs. Dauman and Abrams as well as other Viacom board members
have said they sought meetings with Mr. Redstone, only to be
rebuffed.
Mr. Redstone has cited in statements through third parties that
Viacom's decision to pursue the sale of a minority stake in
Paramount as cause for his anger with Mr. Dauman and the board.
In his letter Tuesday, Mr. Salerno, the lead independent board
member of Viacom, again urged Mr. Redstone to meet with him. He
also suggested that refusing to meet could lead to more legal
action.
"Putting up a wall around you ensures more litigation--and that
is not what we want. We want to understand what is happening with
you. And I can assure you that you can count on us to stick up for
you and for the many other Viacom shareholders you have served so
well for so many years," Mr. Salerno wrote.
Mr. Salerno decided to write his latest letter because Mr.
Redstone's attorney had failed to answer a prior letter renewing
his request to see the media titan and laying out a proposed agenda
for the session, one person close to the matter said Tuesday.
Mr. Redstone's granddaughter Keryn Redstone has said in recent
statements that she hasn't been able to see her grandfather since
February, when she described him as "lifeless" and unaware of his
surroundings.
Joann S. Lublin contributed to this article.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 15, 2016 00:05 ET (04:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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