Stephen King to testify against own publishers in merger trial
As the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) works to convince a federal judge that the merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster will damage the careers of some of the world’s most popular writers, it rests in part on the testimony of a writer who has thrived like several others—Stephen King. Key points: DOJ sues to block merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster in major test of Biden administration’s antitrust policies Their star witness, bestselling author Stephen King, is expected to testify at trial King’s works are currently published by Simon & Schuster, but he has a voice against the merger Author of Carrie, The Shining and many other favorites, King willingly — even passionately — put himself in opposition to Simon & Schuster, his old publisher. He was not chosen by the government just because of his fame, but because of his public criticism of the US$2.2 billion (over US$2.8 billion) deal, announced in late 2021, to join the two largest pu