Skip to main content

Jon Stewart announces $10 billion parody Kickstarter to buy CNN

Jon Stewart announces $10 billion parody Kickstarter to buy CNN

Share this story

Jon Stewart has a long, playful, and antagonistic history with CNN, but his relationship with the 24-hour news channel could change dramatically if Stewart's latest plan pans out: raising $10 billion to buy the network. Stewart isn't actually trying to buy CNN — "Keep in mind," he says, "we need ten-billion dollars" — but he did announce a fake Kickstarter campaign to do so on his show last night, even launching a website in support of it. Stewart's campaign would offer some pretty great rewards too, including the chance to make a talking head appearance in a 21 box, a 6 box, or a 2 box. Fans of Fareed Zakaria and party drugs will also be interested.

Stewart's parody campaign comes in response to Rupert Murdoch and 21st Century Fox's attempts to purchase Time Warner. Even though Murdoch's $80 billion bid was rejected, he's reported to still be pursuing the acquisition, potentially even selling off assets to raise money for a higher offer. As part of the purchase, Fox indicated that it would would sell off CNN — a Time Warner company — to avoid potential antitrust issues with its own news network. If that happens, there's no telling where CNN would land (though CBS says that it'd be interested), but it almost certainly won't be in Stewart's hands.