• by Fern Siegel , August 21, 2020

David Pecker is out as the CEO and President of American Media.

The move is due to the merger between AMI, which owns National Enquirer, Men's Journal and Us Weekly, among other celebrity and fitness magazines, and distributor Accelerate, The Wrap reported.

The new company has been named A360 Medial.

Chris Scardino, the former executive vice president and group publisher of American Media, has been named the president of A360 Media, replacing Pecker.

The new company will move Pecker to an advisory role.

Pecker came under fire for his relationship with Donald Trump and paying women, such as Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, to keep quiet about an affair with the then candidate. Two years ago, AMI admitted to paying her $150K in hush money right before the 2016 election.

Of the merger, Accelerate CEO David Parry stated: “This is a transformative event that significantly reshapes Accelerate and American Media into a new type of media and marketing company with an unprecedented reach all the way to the sales floor.”