This is a content syndication deal in which Variety's showbiz news appears on MSN.com. That's it. It's an unrelated deal done at the top of two large companies that almost certainly has no bearing on what's written by people at the bottom of completely different parts of the business.
Plus, this is Variety. As in, the showbiz paper. If it was going to sell out to anybody (which it hasn't) surely there's a much juicier conspiracy theory in linking it to the platform owner with a massive movie studio business, Sony? Sure, there's no factual evidence, but that doesn't seem to be required for discussions of this nature.
Sure, it's a commercial deal between the companies, but if you're going to get worked up about that then you shouldn't read any magazine or website that carries advertising for the products it covers.
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