On Tuesday afternoon, from Stage 3 at the iconic Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood, Skydance boss David Ellison sat alongside his new co-chief executive Ynon Kreiz for a highly anticipated press conference. The 43-year-old Oracle scion has engaged in a handful of select interviews since acquiring Paramount last summer, but this was the first such event in more than a year in which he would face questions from dozens of reporters gathered in the room—including Status.

After treating the assembled journalists to a hype reel showcasing the vast array of assets now under the Skydance umbrella, courtesy of its monster $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery that closed Tuesday, Ellison started fielding questions. Following a few queries about the mechanics of the newly enlarged company, our very own Jon Passantino was handed the microphone.

"One year ago, you held a similar event like this, with the acquisition of Paramount, and you said, at the time, that your goal was not to politicize the company," Passantino said. "In the time since, you held a UFC event on the White House lawn, you held a dinner 'honoring' the Trump White House—which, apparently, some CBS News staffers refused to attend."

"Do you think the company has been politicized?" Passantino bluntly asked Ellison.