American Media Inc.American Media Inc. Hires New Top Lawyer as Longtime GC Exits
Jon Fine, a former media lawyer for NBC and Amazon, will replace Cameron Stracher, who had served as AMI's general counsel for more than a decade. The company is publisher of The National Enquirer and US Weekly magazine. Its CEO reportedly was granted immunity earlier this year as a witness in a federal probe of alleged violations by the Trump campaign of campaign finance laws.
November 14, 2018 at 05:32 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Corporate Counsel
American Media Inc., the country's largest tabloid publisher, has hired Jon Fine, a former lawyer for Amazon.com and NBC, for the newly created role of deputy general counsel, media.
The New York-based publishing company's longtime top attorney was media and entertainment lawyer Cameron Stracher. The details surrounding Stracher's split from AMI were unclear and he did not respond to messages on Wednesday afternoon.
Fine was most recently senior vice president and publisher of Open Road Integrated Media, according to a news release.
After AMI announced Fine's appointment Wednesday, a spokesman said the company had “enjoyed a long and productive relationship with Cameron and we wish him well and look forward to working with him in the future.”
Cameron Stracher.
Stracher had served as AMI's general counsel, media since 2007 and may have played a role in The National Enquirer's now-infamous alleged $150,000 deal with former Playboy model Karen McDougal prior to the 2016 presidential election, according to The New Yorker Magazine and other published accounts. The Enquirer, an AMI publication, allegedly paid McDougal for the rights to her story about having an affair with Donald Trump.
But the tabloid and its CEO David Pecker, who was friends with Trump at the time, withheld the story from publication, a practice known as “catch and kill,” according to the reports. McDougal later sued to reclaim the rights to her story. She reached a settlement with AMI in April and was released from her contract.
The Enquirer's payment to McDougal helped trigger a federal investigation that has resulted in Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen pleading guilty to campaign finance violations and ongoing speculation that Trump will be implicated. Pecker, who is wrapped up in the probe, has been granted immunity in exchange for being a witness for prosecutors, according to published reports.
Stracher told The New York Times in July that AMI was cooperating with the investigation, but added that the company “has asserted and will continue to assert its First Amendment rights in order to protect its news-gathering and editorial operations.”
Attempts to speak with Stracher, a former contributor to The American Lawyer, were unsuccessful.
Fine also could not be reached Wednesday, but he said in a prepared statement that he looked “forward to helping continue AMI's tradition of dynamic journalism in the celebrity and lifestyle realms.” He starts his new job Thursday.
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