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Who owns Rolling Stone? How allegations of links to Donald Trump sparked ‘Boycott Rolling Stone’ and led to fury

The allegations, however, have no proof and are completely based on assumptions

Rolling Stone magazine is being linked to former president Donald Trump and the Saudi government in an unconfirmed expose by a newspaper. An article titled 'The Demise of Rolling Stone: How A Legendary Magazine Sold Out to Trump and the Saudis' went viral on social media and sparked controversy. However, there is no proof for the allegations, and they are completely based on assumptions. 

The Hill Reporter published the story on Thursday, April 1, alleging the magazine is funded by the Saudi government, supports Donald Trump, and also claimed that it has donated millions to the Republican Party and GOP Super PACS. It led to the birth of the hashtag #BoycottRollingStone and sparked much controversy on social media. Here are a few facts about the parties involved and how it led to furious calls to boycott the magazine. 

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Who owns Rolling Stone?

Back in 2017, The New York Times reported that Penske Media Corporation had acquired a controlling stake in Wenner Media, the publisher of the famed Rolling Stone magazine. 

The magazine was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and Ralph Gleason. In September 2016, Wenner, the magazine magnate, was in the process of selling a 49% stake of the magazine to a company from Singapore called BandLab Technologies, which had no direct involvement in the editorial content of the magazine. In September the next year, Wenner Media announced that the remaining 51% of Rolling Stone magazine was also up for sale, which Penske Media bought. Three months later, they acquired the rest of the comapny's stake from BandLab Technologies, giving the company full ownership of the venerable magazine, including all event and licensing rights, and the parallel entity Rolling Stone International.

Who is Jay Penske?

Jay is the youngest son of Roger Penske. He is also the chairman and CEO of Penske Media Corporation (PMC). He co-founded Firefly Mobile Inc which won the 2006 CES Innovation Award. He also owns Dragon Books Ltd., a Los Angeles-based used bookstore that sells rare and collectible books. He is co-owner of Luczo Dragon Racing, a very successful IndyCar Series racing team.

The media and publishing entrepreneur has a net worth of $200 million dollars, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Married to his supermodel wife Elaine Irwin, he was once arrested with his brother Mark in Nantucket for assaulting a woman and urinating on her, according to a report by The Atlantic.

His father was awarded a Presidential Medal by Donald Trump in 2019. The Hill Reporter alleged that Roger Penske, who has a net worth of $1.5 Billion according to Celebrity Net Worth, and his son have ties with the Saudis.

In the reports' own words, the Penske Media Corporation, which employs hundreds of journalists at Variety, Deadline, The Robb Report, WWD and others as well as Rolling Stone, "has never publicly addressed the investment tie to the Saudi government, either to defend or explain it."

Who is Seth Hettena?

The Hill Reporter claimed Seth Hettena — a freelance journalist — encouraged people to donate to Trump in 2016. However, no such tweet activity or other proof to substatiate these claims have been added in the article.

The Hill Reporter stated that Hettena recently contacted MeidasTouch, the PAC founded by the Meiselas Brothers, with a list of accusations he was about to write in an article specifically crafted to defame them, demanding an explanation which the company responded with a simple tweet. 

"After telling us they were publishing a defamatory story and giving us a 48-hour deadline to respond last Wednesday, @RollingStone and @seth_hettena are now targeting the few vendors we have who assist with our canvassing & ad buys," Meidas Touch said in a tweet.

"By switching focus from us & targeting these small businesses, they are trying to damage the relationships that power our operation and harm them and us financially in the process. We will not be threatened by these mob-style tactics and will continue to keep you up-to-date," they added.

Why did #BoycottRollingStone start trending?

Meidas Touch's tweet and the Hill Reporter article had the combined effect of sparking fury on social media and sparked the hashtag ‘Boycott Rolling Stone’. One Twitter user wrote, "Rolling Stone used to be the home of Hunter S. Thompson, now people are tweeting #BoycottRollingStone after their ties to Trump and the Saudis have been exposed." Another tweeted, "You shit all over your legacy for a combed over traitor. #BoycottRollingStone."

Epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding said: "Let me get this straight... arguably one of the most successful anti-Trump groups of 2020, @MeidasTouch, is now being attacked in a Rolling Stone hit piece... Who owns the @RollingStone? Well, isn’t that a coincidence. It would be a shame to share this photo."

A Twitter user added: "YOU TWITTER DRIPS. NOW you want to boycott @RollingStone ??? I was done w that wet rag the millisecond they put a terrorist on the cover. #BoycottRollingStone".

Another user tweeted: "I support #BoycottRollingStone bc Useful Idiots was a damn good show that shouldn’t have been canceled. Oh & they finance crimes against humanity."

Investigative filmmaker Cullen Hoback, whose documentaries include 'HBO mini-series Q: Into the Storm', said: "Penske Media owns Rolling Stone, Variety and Indiewire. All 3 outlets attempted to dissuade people from watching #QIntoTheStorm, claiming it doesn’t matter who Q is. Guess who owns Penske? #BoycottRollingStone."

Jay Penske or Seth Hettena have not responded to any of these claims and the hashtag was pushed on Twitter by Meidas Touch, the committee formed in March 2020 with the purpose of stopping the re-election of Donald Trump.

These claims have been made by Hill Reporter in an article titled 'The Demise of Rolling Stone: How A Legendary Magazine Sold Out to Trump and the Saudis' and there is no proof for the allegations, as of now.