Jeff Bezos vs. National Enquirer: Supermarkets Continue To Carry Cancerous Publication

By ISAIAH McCALL

Two weeks ago,  Jeff Bezos posted one of the most significant blog posts of all time. Bezos exposed popular tabloid publication the National Enquirer and their parent company American Media Inc. (AMI) for attempting to extort and blackmail him with nude photos. 

“These communications cement AMI’s long-earned reputation for weaponizing journalistic privileges, hiding behind important protections, and ignoring the tenets and purpose of true journalism,” said Bezos in his blogpost.

While legal teams way beyond your pay-grade duke it out over whether the Enquirer and AMI should be held accountable for the accused crime — a battle is now occurring in the cashier’s aisle of your supermarket. 

The National Enquirer is the king of tabloid journalism, but with their parent company American Media under fire as well, publications like Muscle & Fitness, National Examiner, Soap Opera Digest and Us Weekly could also be in jeopardy.

So now the question is begged, should these supermarkets still run the Enquirer, and will they?

The Enquirer’s and AMI’s Track Record

Sure the Enquirer and AMI are under hot water now, but one look at their track record reveals they’ve been waist deep in controversy for decades. Take a look at any issue of the tabloid and you’ll see gigantic, often fraudulent headlines. Maybe you’ve seen headlines like “Supreme Court Justice Scalia — Murdered By A Hooker,” or “Jeb Bush Snorted Cocaine On Night His Dad Became President!” which have been featured in issues of the Enquirer.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor Terry Crews was one of the recent to open up about lies that we’re almost published about him in the Enquirer — when AMI attempted to intimidate the actor into dropping his lawsuit against WME agent Adam Venit.

“This same company, AMI, tried to silence me in my lawsuit against WME and Adam Venit by fabricating stories of me with prostitutes—and even went so far as creating fake receipts,” Crews wrote on Twitter in reference to his lawsuit. 

This same company, AMI, tried to silence me in my lawsuit against @wme and Adam Venit by fabricating stories of me with prostitutes— and even went so far as creating fake receipts.

I called their bluff by releasing their threats online. They blinked. https://t.co/S6lMZ5K6Tb

— terry crews (@terrycrews) February 8, 2019

Supermarkets Can Ignite The Fire That Ends The Enquirer

Thanks in part to Bezos, Crews and others for calling out the Enquirer — everything is out in the open for the publication to go down — yet, while legal proceedings take their lengthy course, supermarkets and news stands can be the first to serve justice — if they so choose.

While Bezos’ accusations against the Enquirer must be further investigated before any form of punishment is dealt, here’s a list of things The Enquirer and AMI have been guilty of, despite no real repercussions:

• Political dealings and favors that Bezos and most of the journalism community have long accused them of
• AMI paying for the rights to stories of two women who say they had affairs with Trump (Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal).
• Buying off a doorman at Trump World Tower to try to keep him from going public with an unsavory allegation against Trump.

And perhaps one of the worst recent cases was their deal made with Bill Cosby in 2005, in which Cosby agreed to an interview with the Enquirer in return for the tabloid’s promise to not publish sexual assault allegations against him for two years.

Petitions all over the internet have already popped up demanding for the removal of the Enquirer in stores across the nation — time will only tell if supermarkets follow-suit.