Skydance, the film studio owned by David Ellison, is vying to buy Paramount.
Skydance's biggest backer is private equity firm RedBird, a top player in sports and media.
Meet the mastermind behind RedBird, ex-Goldman Sachs partner and Yankees dealmaker Gerry Cardinale.
Paramount's CEO Bob Bakish was ousted on Monday night, putting the entertainment giant one step closer to accepting a merger deal. The would-be buyer, film studio Skydance Media, is owned by David Ellison, son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry.
A key player in the negotiations is private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners. An investor in Skydance since 2020, RedBird is the media company's largest shareholder other than the Ellison family. In the 10 years since its founding, RedBird has emerged as a top dealmaker in sports and entertainment with $10 billion in assets.
Founder and chief executive Gerry Cardinale made his name at Goldman Sachs as the banker to the New York Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys, and the NFL. RedBird, owner of football club AC Milan since 2022, has been on a shopping spree. In February, it bought All3Media, the TV and film production company behind "Fleabag," for £1.15 billion (some $1.4 billion). It attempted to buy the UK newspaper, the Telegraph, before withdrawing on Tuesday.
Skydance and RedBird have been wooing Paramount for months. Paramount's special committee received a revised proposal on Sunday, according to a source close to the negotiations. Under the agreement, Skydance would merge with Paramount, and the combined company would stay public, two sources close to the negotiation said.
David Ellison would be installed as CEO and Jeff Shell, ex-NBCUniversal CEO and current chairman of sports media at RedBird, would report to Ellison as president. The Skydance consortium, including RedBird and smaller shareholder KKR, would inject $3 billion into Paramount with the majority going toward buying back stock and the remainder to paying down debt. The exclusive negotiating period is due to end on May 3. Meanwhile, private equity titan Apollo has reportedly teamed up with Sony for a potential $26 billion offer but has yet to make an official bid.
The deal is typical of Cardinale's playbook. RedBird isn't a typical buyout firm, instead installing new management and leveraging intellectual properties to build larger businesses. Skydance has already successfully co-produced the "Top Gun" reboot with Paramount and holds the rights to produce and finance other Paramount properties, including Transformers.
"I think it's my biggest competitive advantage that I don't get emotionally attached," Cardinale told Business Insider in 2022. "They're all pieces of intellectual property that have a legitimate right to be monetized as long as they balance the fan-social contract at the same time."
(Paramount did not reply to a request for comment in time for publication. At Tuesday's earnings call, executives took no questions and instead played the "Mission: Impossible" theme on a loop.)
Business Insider spoke with 27 of Cardinale's colleagues and peers to learn more about his winning strategy. One of his superpowers, many said, is his relationship savvy. Many of RedBird's business partnerships date back to his Goldman days.
"He had a knack for developing relationships with entrepreneurs, particularly those with more of a maverick style," said Jon Winkelried, the CEO of TPG and the former copresident of Goldman Sachs. "There arse a lot of smart investors who can run the numbers, who can figure out the cash flows, but it is very hard to get high-powered people who have accomplished a lot to want to allocate some of their valuable time to you. People want to spend their time with Gerry."
An American Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner landing in Athens, Greece.
NurPhoto/Getty Images
American Airlines is making cuts to flight schedules on some international and Hawaii routes.
The changes are a result of Boeing 787 Dreamliner delivery delays.
American Airlines will receive just 3 of the 6 Dreamliners it expected Boeing to deliver this year.
American Airlines is reducing service and adjusting flight schedules on roughly a dozen routes due to a shortage of the Boeing 787 Dreamliners needed to operate them, it said Friday.
The changes primarily affect seasonal routes between the mainland US to destinations in Europe, South America, and Hawaii.
"We're making these adjustments now to ensure we're able to re-accommodate customers on affected flights," an American Airlines spokesperson told Business Insider.
Here's the full list of cuts and reductions:
New York (JFK) – Rome (FCO) will go from two daily flights to a single daily flight effective Aug. 5.
New York (JFK) – Athens (ATH) seasonal route will suspend operations earlier than planned on September 3rd.
New York (JFK) – Barcelona (BCN) will suspend service on September 3 and resume operations in the summer of 2025.
New York (JFK) – Buenos Aires (EZE) will be reduced to one daily flight on October 27.
Philadelphia (PHL) – Venice (VCE) seasonal route will suspend operations earlier than planned on October 5.
Chicago (ORD) – Paris (CDG) will suspend service on September 3 and resume operations in the summer of 2025.
Dallas (DFW) – Kona (KOA) seasonal route will not operate this winter.
Dallas (DFW) – Dublin (DUB) will suspend service on October 26 and resume operations in the summer of 2025.
Dallas (DFW) – Rome (FCO) will suspend service on October 26 and resume operations summer of 2025.
Miami (MIA) – Montevideo (MVD) seasonal route resumption is delayed until November 18.
Miami (MIA) – Rio de Janeiro (GIG) will reduce to 10 weekly flights for the winter season except between December 16, 2024 – January 6, 2025.
Phoenix (PHX) – Honolulu (HNL)/Kahului (OGG) flight will operate with a smaller Airbus A321neo instead of the Dreamliner except between November 16 – December 2. American said it will operate a second daily flight using the A321neo starting in mid-December.
Instead, the airline expects an increased utilization of its regional fleet will be able to offset much of the disruption created by Boeing's delivery delays, CFO Devon May told analysts last week.
Boeing has struggled to deliver the 787 over the past couple of years due to various reasons ranging from parts shortages to quality control issues that halted aircraft deliveries for 15 months. The 737MAX family has been equally troubled of late with continuing production quality issues following the mid-flight failure of a plug-door on a newly delivered Alaska Airlines 737 MAX9 in January.
Boeing's production struggles have forced several of the company's other major customers to take similar action.
Beyond the schedule cuts, American announced it will launch daily flights between Philadelphia and Barcelona in January 2025, along with increased service frequency on select routes to Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo.
In 1935, a car radio was cutting-edge technology. But people are still using it today.
Daily Herald Archive/SSPL/Getty Images
Just like TV, radio is a pre-internet medium. But its usage hasn't collapsed like TV has.
For people listening to free, ad-supported audio, radio remains dominant, according to Nielsen.
But the younger you get, the less likely you are to listen to radio, even compared to other free options.
Radio is an old-timey medium that made sense when there was no other way to listen to things. But it makes no sense in the age of Spotify and podcasts and listening to what you want, when you want to listen to it.
Right?
Well, not exactly. At least not according to a new survey from Nielsen, which argues that lots of people still listen to radio.
Specifically, Nielsen says that radio accounts for nearly 70% of all listening time to "ad-supported audio" for adults in the US, with the remainder cut up between podcasts, streaming audio, and satellite radio.
Nielsen
Not surprisingly, those numbers are weighted toward oldsters (that would be 35 and up, for the purpose of this survey) who are likely to remember a time when radio was the only way to listen to audio.
But radio is still strong for a younger demo. Nielsen says it accounts for 45% of ad-supported listening for 18 to 34-year-olds:
Nielsen
If you're surprised by this, that may be because you spend a lot of time on the internet (thank you!) and/or because you don't spend that much time driving. Because cars, for lots of people, still equal radio: Edison Research says 70% of people who've been in a car in the last month are primarily listening to radio.
But, also — if you've been reading this closely (thank you!) — you will have also noticed that those Nielsen numbers only reference "ad-supported audio," which means it's not measuring all listening. Spotify, for instance, says it has 64 million premium subscribers in North America who pay to listen to on-demand, ad-free music. And they don't show up in this Nielsen survey. The same goes for Apple's Music subscribers, etc.
So what happens when you look at the way audio habits for all kinds of listening pan out?
Nielsen's data here isn't as granular as I would have liked, but they were able to give me some sense. TL;DR: Radio usage, it turns out, isn't nearly as dominant. But it's still on top: Nielsen says it accounts for 37% of all listening time, followed by streaming audio (19%), podcasts (11%), and Sirius XM (8%). (The remaining 25% is split every other way you can consume audio — stuff you own yourself, stuff you listen to on YouTube, etc.)
So where does all of this lead us?
On the one hand, it suggests that, unlike cable TV, young/youngish people haven't entirely abandoned radio. Chalk it up, most likely, to the fact that it's both free and, in many cases, still easier to listen to in a car than something delivered over the internet.
It also suggests that gravity is real, water is wet, and that just like you think, the more choices you have — and the more choices you are exposed to — the less likely you are to pick radio. Just like you thought.
Markets would resist executive influence over the Federal Reserve, Kenneth Rogoff told Bloomberg TV.
Inflation expectations would jump while the dollar would tank, the Harvard professor said.
Donald Trump allies have reportedly been brainstorming ways for him to exert more influence over the Fed, if elected.
Political attempts to influence the Federal Reserve won't go over well with markets, Harvard's Kenneth Rogoff said.
"If you take away Fed independence, investors are gonna get jittery, inflation expectations are going to go up, the dollar is going to tank," the economics professor told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. "So happily, for better or worse maybe, I think markets will throw a pretty cold bucket of water on the president if he tries to do that."
Sparking his comments are recent reports that Donald Trump allies are drafting plans to help the Republican candidate secure a degree of influence the central bank, in the event he wins November's election.
Suggested among these is that Trump could fire Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, a figure he himself elected in 2017, before accusing him of considering interest rate cuts as a way to help Democrats.
"It's clear you know, he wants to be a disruptor-in-chief, and it probably irritates him that Powell gets so much attention at his press conferences," Rogoff thought.
However, ideas of influencing the Fed aren't just alluring to Trump's camp, he said, citing that anyone in power will want to see the central bank ease monetary policy.
"The progressives have ideas for taking away Fed independence too," Rogoff said. "They're not at the tip of the tongue for President Biden or Jared Bernstein and his advisors, but there are ideas floating out there."
In the view of Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, the concept of trying to control the Fed typically ends in disaster, an experience learned in countries from Argentina to Zimbabwe.
Despite this, he also cited that Powell was facing pressure from both the left and the right he told CNBC on Monday:
"I can tell you this, I think I know Jay Powell very well as a friend. He could care less," he said. "It's kind of nice to have symmetrical beating up."
For White House onlookers hoping that interest rate cuts help propel a reelection this year, the outlook has turned more and more grim in recent weeks. Though Powell himself suggested optimism about rate cuts in previous commentary, a string of hot inflation has tripped this outlook up.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is being sentenced to 4 months in prison after being charged for violating US anti-money laundering rules.
Antonio Masiello / Getty
Changpeng Zhao, founder of crypto exchange Binance, has been sentenced to 4 months in prison.
The sentence comes after the ex-CEO pleaded guilty to violating US anti-money laundering rules.
Zhao's sentence follows Sam Bankman-Fried's 25-year prison ruling following the FTX collapse.
Changpeng Zhao, the founder and ex-CEO of crypto exchange giant Binance, has been sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to charges in a Seattle federal court that the trading platform violated US anti-money laundering requirements.
The sentencing comes after the US Department of Justice recommended in a sentencing memo earlier this month that Zhao, also known as "CZ,'" serve three years in prison and pay a $50 million fine for enabling money laundering on the exchange. The crypto kingpin's attorneys had suggested he instead only be sentenced to probation, arguing, "No defendant in a remotely similar [Bank Secrecy Act] case has ever been sentenced to incarceration."
After pleading guilty, Zhao, once one of the wealthiest people in crypto, was directed to step down from the helm of Binance last November. Under his leadership, the former CEO had expanded the company into one of the world's biggest crypto exchanges.
Binance will also pay a $4.3 billion fine in federal court, part of which will go toward settling a lawsuit the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission launched against the exchange in March 2023. The CFTC lawsuit accused the ex-CEO and his company of "failing to stop illegal trading activity" on the platform.
The charges came around the time when FTX, a rival to Binance, collapsed over allegations in November 2022 that the exchange's owners had misused customer funds. Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of the exchange, was eventually sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was found guilty of multiple fraud charges.
Binance and the US Department of Justice didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment before publication.
The Digital Nomad Identification Certificate is the first step for one to get a Turkish digital nomad visa.
Matteo Colombo/Getty Images
Turkey is the latest country to open its arms to remote workers keen to relocate.
Citizens from several European countries, plus Canada and the US, are eligible for a new visa.
Here's what it takes to get the Digital Nomad Identification Certificate for Turkey.
Digital nomads are now welcome to stay in Turkey.
The country joins Italy, which recently made a similar announcement, in offering a visa for traveling professionals who want to work remotely in Turkey for an extended time.
The Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry created a website dedicated to digital nomads which provides a list of requirements for eligibility and the steps of the application process. The site also provides resources on how to get started in several of its major cities.
The Digital Nomad Identification Certificate, which is the first step to a digital nomad visa, is open to remote workers ages 21 to 55.
They have to provide proof that they are a university graduate, work in the "digital nomad field," and that they make at least $3,000 a month, or $36,000 annually, according to the site.
Applicants must also have a passport or travel documents that are valid for at least six months from the date they arrive in Turkey. The offer is only for citizens of several European countries and Canada, Russia, and the US.
If approved, it's as simple as applicants receiving a certificate with a barcode that they can use to apply for the digital nomad visa at the Turkish consulate.
Still, life in the country is not all rosy. Over the years, Turkish citizens have been up against rising inflation, and while the country bumped its minimum wage up 49% in 2024 to about $525 a month, many are still struggling.
However, more and more millennials and Gen Z are giving up on the dream of owning a house in the US, so some have opted to spend their time traveling and working abroad instead of saving for a starter home.
Earlier this month Italy announced that it would welcome remote workers and their families on renewable digital nomad visas.
As fast-food prices increase, customers are finding more value in chain restaurants.
Chains like Chili's are rolling out deals and portion sizes that could best fast-food chains.
Chili's new Big Smasher burger is the latest offensive move in the value wars.
At Chili's Dallas headquarters, I watched as a staffer dressed in Boyz II Men-themed Chili's merchandise glided through the company's spacious lobby while carrying an oversized margarita. It wasn't even 11 a.m.
This, apparently, was the place where everyone lived, ate, and breathed Chili's, and it was the first sign I was in for a memorable experience inside where its menu items are born.
The second sign was a half-pound burger smashed down, topped with lettuce, crunchy pickles, and a creamy Thousand Island dressing.
The Big Smasher burger, Chili's newest menu item, was served in the company's test kitchen before its official launch on April 29. At the company's invitation, I had traveled 1,500 miles from New York to try this burger and other new menu items in development. With the first bite, I knew it was worth the turbulent four-hour flight.
As the cheese-covered meat, tangy sauce, and freshly buttered bun hit my taste buds, I thought: This was a burger good enough to take on the Big Mac — but would it best it in a head-to-head competition?
It feels like Chili's is open to answering that question as fast-food restaurant prices rise. And if the sheer size and taste of the Chili's burger are anything to go by, it has a shot at beating fast-food chains in the value wars.
Competitive pricing and generous portions at restaurants could spell trouble for fast-food chains
Fast food has long been considered the cheapest way to dine out, but that may no longer be the case.
In New York City, a McDonald's Big Mac meal, including a medium-size order of fries and a medium drink, costs $13.89, excluding tax. (McDonald's told BI that local franchisees set pricing, which varies by restaurant.) Similarly, a Burger King Whopper meal combo costs $13.99, excluding tax.
Chain restaurants are using promotional deals to get people through the doors, such as Chili's "3 For Me" combo that allows customers to order an entrée like a burger, a side of fries, an appetizer, and a bottomless drink for $10.99. Customers also have the option to upgrade their drink and appetizer for an additional $3.99 each.
The chain argues that, based on size, Chili's burgers are a better value than those at a fast-food restaurant. All Chili's burgers weigh a half-pound versus the 3.2-ounce pre-cooked patty weight of a Big Mac.
It's not just Chili's offering discounted combo meals.
Applebee's "2 for $25" meal deal includes two entrées and the choice of an appetizer or two side salads, while Red Lobster's "Shrimp Your Way" gives customers the choice of three shrimp dishes for $25 or two for $21.
Unsurprisingly, the meal deals are popular. In January, Restaurant Business News reported the percentage of Chili's orders that included a promotional deal like the "3 For Me" or margarita of the month rose to 31%, up two points from the previous quarter.
After Applebee's added steak to its "2 for $25" deal in June, John Peyton, CEO of the chain's operator Dine Brands, said the percentage of Applebee's customers ordering limited-time-only or value offerings grew from 15% to 19% quarter over quarter, Nation's Restaurant News reported.
Outback Steakhouse also recently brought back its limited-time-only Steak & Lobster deal, which starts at $19.99. It includes a 6-ounce sirloin steak, lobster tail, and two sides. The chain announced the rerelease of the deal in a simple Instagram post: "Back by popular demand."
Fast-food chains are hiking prices and making customers mad
A woman eats a Big Mac burger.
Cate Gillon/Getty Images
Fast-food establishments typically raise prices by about 2% each year. Still, McDonald's chief financial officer Ian Borden told analysts at the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference in March that the chain raised US prices by around 10% in 2022 and 2023, blaming inflation.
Despite the price increase, last year's sales remained steady. McDonald's reported that comparable year-over-year sales increased 8.7% in 2023.
However, 2024 has brought even more price hikes for customers. The recent implementation of California's $20 minimum wage for employees in limited-service restaurants has led to across-the-board increases in menu prices throughout the state.
Still, squeezed franchise owners know there's a limit to what customers are willing to spend.
"We have looked at price, although I can't charge $20 for a Happy Meal," Scott Rodrick, a McDonald's franchise owner who operates 18 restaurants in California, told CNN. "My customers' appetite to absorb menu-board prices is not unlimited."
In a February earnings report, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski said the chain had declining visits, and customers earning $45,000 a year or less were spending less.
"We certainly know consumers are more wary — and weary — of pricing and we're going to continue to be consumer-led in our pricing decisions as we look forward to 2024," Borden said on a February earnings call, CBS News reported.
Customers have also taken to social media to bemoan the increases.
"Outback can do Steak and Lobster for $19.99, but McDonald's can't keep their prices in check. The death of fast food is upon us," one Reddit user commented.
A McDonald's spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement that the chain "always strives to strike the right balance of value for money" when asked to comment on competing with casual-dining chains to attract value-driven customers.
Chain restaurants are coming out swinging with new products similar to fast-food favorites
Chili's Big Smasher burger.
Erin McDowell/Business Insider
Chili's Big Smasher burger is the latest example of how chain restaurants are following fast-food chains' playbooks by delivering what customers love while offering better value amid price increases.
The burger costs $12.99 but comes down to $10.99 when part of the chain's "3 For Me" meal combo.
"We've always had incredible burgers on our menu, but for about a year now, we've been hearing more and more frustration from fast-food fans over rising costs," Chili's director of culinary, Brian Paquette, told Business Insider, adding that it's one of the reasons the chain wanted to deliver "some of the favorite drive-thru flavors" on its menu.
When Paquette described the Big Smasher during my visit to Chili's headquarters, I noticed its similarities with McDonald's Big Mac, which I've eaten many times. Both burgers include shredded lettuce, onions, pickles, American cheese, and a Thousand-Island-style dressing.
It's a comparison Chili's is leaning into.
In a press release, Chili's said the new burger has "flavors fast food lovers will recognize." And a new ad released by the chain takes direct aim at McDonald's most famous burger, saying their iteration is better than "a tiny drive-thru burger" while showing their "3 For Me" combo next to a lone Big Mac.
Chili's half-pound burger — "twice the meat of a Big Mac," Paquette said — is made using a hand smasher, and the patty is seasoned with a spice blend on both sides.
The result, which is both juicy and crispy, was far better than any fast-food burger I've had recently, thanks to its size and the quality of the toppings. It tasted like a gourmet restaurant burger, as opposed to a fast-food joint burger speedily thrown together.
Leaning into meal deals can win over customers, but chains can risk cutting their prices too much
Red Lobster, Times Square, New York.
Richard Levine/Corbis via Getty Images
Promotional deals, while popular among customers, can threaten chains' profits if they're not sustainable.
Earlier in April, Bloomberg reported seafood chain Red Lobster is considering filing for bankruptcy after a blundered roll-out of its signature all-you-can-eat deal.
Red Lobster's "Ultimate Endless Shrimp" deal, which has run for over 18 years, offered unlimited shrimp dishes for $20. Initially a one-day-a-week deal, it became a daily promotion last summer to attract more customers. In 2023, Red Lobster raised the price twice, eventually landing at $25 to cope with demand and improve profits.
Despite the increased price, the all-you-can-eat strategy backfired. Operating losses of $11 million and $12.5 million were reported in the quarters following the daily endless shrimp promotion launch in 2023. By 2024, the deal is only available on Mondays.
Chili's executives are aware of the dangers of using discounted meal deals to attract customers. Felix said there was a focus on discounting to drive people into restaurants in years past, but Chili's recently made strategic shifts to pull back on discounts and avoid training the chain's customers to rely on them.
"You're seeing a lot of kind of desperate value plays out there that might work in the short term, but you're paying for the traffic and the gains you're seeing versus doing it in a sustainable way," he continued.
Felix told BI that while the "3 For Me" promotion wasn't designed to compete with fast food, he agreed it could do just that.
"Fast food and drive-thru prices have gone up," he said. "I think that's just the start of the conversation, and the sticker shock is real."
The EV company can't rely on hybrids and gas cars like competitors.
Musk blamed industry prioritization of hybrids for poor Q1 performance.
Tesla is finally being forced to reckon with a slowdown in electric-vehicle demand, and CEO Elon Musk's tactics are likely to look different than his peers' in the automotive industry.
Both Ford and GM exceeded analyst expectations for the first quarter thanks to cost cutting and stronger demand for gas-powered cars. Tesla, meanwhile, fell short for the same first three months of the year, with sizable declines in revenue and deliveries.
For the past year, demand for electric cars has pulled back, putting the brakes on the rapid growth for the battery-powered vehicles that underpin much of the automotive industry's plans for the next several years. This has led to strategy shifts for companies like GM and Ford, which are starting to pay off.
After years of pouring huge investments into electric vehicle technology, GM CEO Mary Barra told investors last week that the rapid rate of spending is starting to slow.
"Our focus has turned back to driving free cash flow through enhanced profitability and capital discipline, finding ways to spend less for the same results and with an unwavering focus on the customer," Barra said.
GM's hefty 10.6% profit margin in North America — underpinned by the company's lucrative pickup truck business — drove the company's sizable earnings beat.
EVs, on the other hand, still aren't profitable at all for GM or any other traditional car company. Ford, which breaks out its electric vehicle business performance, reported a $1.32 billion loss in the first quarter for that segment.
Tesla reckons with an EV slowdown
The stark difference between Tesla's first quarter results and its traditional competitors is just the latest sign that the EV slowdown is finally catching up to Musk's electric car company.
Up until the start of this year, Musk's electric car company was able to flex its impressive profit margins to lower prices for a new group of more frugal EV shoppers. Sales of the most affordable Teslas, the Model 3 and Model Y, continued to increase throughout 2023, and the company very nearly met its lofty goal of delivering 2 million cars last year despite pressure on the segment.
But the tables have turned now as traditional automakers are able to tap into a newly popular segment unoccupied by Tesla: hybrids.
Without hybrids and gas-powered cars to fall back on, Tesla's approach to the EV slowdown will instead hinge on lowering production costs and finally delivering on a long-awaited affordable model. These are lofty efforts unlikely to take root overnight.
This appeared to ruffle Musk, who went so far as to blame the industry's newfound commitment to hybrids for some of Tesla's dismal earnings results last week.
"While positive for our regulatory credits business, we prefer the industry to continue pushing EV adoption, which is in line with our mission," Tesla wrote.
Matthew Prince is suing his Park City neighbors over their Bernese Mountain dogs.
They say it's retaliation for opposing Prince's plans to build his dream home.
There's a hearing Tuesday at City Hall over whether Prince can proceed with the mansion.
Matthew Prince, the billionaire cofounder of cybersecurity company Cloudflare, is waging a legal battle with his neighbors over their Bernese Mountain dogs, Sasha and Mocha.
But his neighbors, Eric Hermann and Susan Fredstom-Hermann, say the suit is actually retaliation for opposing Prince's plans to build his dream home in the ritzy ski town, The Wall Street Journal reports.
"The Large Dogs have aggressively approached, chased, and harassed the residents and guests of the Plaintiff's Property," the suit reads, adding that the Hermanns are "senior and frail and unable to control the Large Dogs."
The Hermanns told the Journal they didn't believe their dogs had ever interacted with the Prince family.
"Since we became the face of the community trying to preserve Old Town's unique character by preventing construction of a monster mansion the size of our city hall, we have been brutally harassed," Eric Hermann told local outlet KPCW.
The suit has caught the attention of locals, with residents affixing "Free Sasha & Mocha" stickers around town, the Journal reports.
Prince grew up in Park City and moved back from San Francisco in 2019, according to the Journal. He's currently designing a home for his family whose grand size some locals — including the Hermanns — say runs afoul of regulations, the Journal reports.
The Hermanns filed an appeal in March in order to block Prince's building permit, KPCW reports.
The Princes say the size squabbles are miscalculations, and that some neighbors supported their project, per the Journal.
In addition to the Sasha and Mocha suit, Prince has also brought another suit against the Hermanns over a wall on their property that he alleges infringes on land he owns, according to the Journal. The Hermanns characterized that suit to the Journal as further retaliation.
An appeal panel will host a hearing Tuesday at City Hall over whether Prince should be allowed to move forward with construction. The three-person panel could render a decision or choose to vote at a later date, according to KPCW.
This is not the first time that Prince's property fight has made national headlines. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that he had acquired a local newspaper called the Park Record, which began covering his home plans more consistently and supportively.
Lawyers for Prince did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The move reverses recent plans to double the number of of clinics at its retail stores.
Walmart says it will shut down the 51 health clinics it has at retail stores across five states, as well as its virtual care operation as the business has become "unsustainable."
"The challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs create a lack of profitability," the company said Tuesday.
The announcement did not provide a specific date for the closures, but sources told the Dallas Morning News and CNBC they would happen over the next 45 to 90 days.
Staffed by physicians and licensed care providers, the clinics offered services ranging from primary care to behavioral health, as well as labs and X-rays. Virtual care was also available through walmarthealth.com.
Earlier this year, the company had planned to double the number of clinics, but a spokesperson told the Dallas Morning News the decision to close was made after the company received new information about reimbursements from insurers.
Meanwhile, Amazon last year expanded a benefit for Prime members, giving them access to online services and visits at hundreds of One Medical clinics in cities across the US.
By contrast, Walgreens said last month it would close 160 Village MD clinics after taking a $5.8 billion hit in the business.
Walmart continues to operate pharmacies at about 4,600 stores across the US, with over 4,000 those in what it calls "medical provider shortage areas."
"Our pharmacies are often the front door of healthcare," the company said.