Sumner Redstone ousts Viacom CEO and five board members

National Amusements said it removed Dauman, George Abrams, William Schwartz, Blythe McGarvie and lead independent director Salerno.

They would be replaced by Buzzfeed Chairman Kenneth Lerer, who co-founded The Huffington Post; Eversource Energy Chairman Thomas May; former Discovery Communications CEO Judith McHale; Avis Budget Group Executive Chairman Ronald Nelson, a former Co-COO of Dreamworks SKG; and former Sony Entertainment President Nicole Seligman.

The statement represents the sharpest criticisms to date that Redstone has leveled against Dauman and the board.

“I am being sued by my fellow board members and my wishes are being ignored”, Redstone said in the one-paragraph note. “He fully supports the steps taken today by National Amusements”.

National Amusements owns almost 80% of Viacom’s voting shares and said it took Thursday’s action by delivering written consent to the company. That would keep the existing board temporarily in place, but bar it from making decisions outside the normal course of business.

“He reported that you didn’t react, other than to nod when he asked you if you heard him and understood what he said to you”, Salerno wrote.

The unusual story of Sumner Redstone’s battle with Viacom’s execs and directors just became a little stranger. Citing Viacom’s sluggish performance in recent years, they’ve recently made clear their desire to remake Viacom’s board and likely remove its current management. The holding company is the vehicle through which Redstone controls his majority interests in both Viacom and CBS Corp., with the trust positioned to oversee Redstone’s holdings when he dies, or is deemed incapacitated.

In another incident, Tom Freston, Dauman’s predecessor at Viacom broke his long maintained public silence and said that to serve the best interest of everyone mainly the employees the matter should be solved and ended. He has moved to seize control of Viacom and CBS from long-time friends and colleagues including Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman. At issue is whether the elderly billionaire, who has trouble speaking and has limited mobility, is calling the shots or being manipulated by family members who want to wrest control of Viacom from Dauman.

Redstone, 93, won a summary judgement in a previous suit by Herzer who last October was outed from Redstone’s mansion, and cut out of his will. The judge called the elder Redstone “alert” and “composed” in his statements, though he did not make a formal finding about his mental state. The Redstone family has signaled they are happy with Moonves at CBS.

The power struggle engulfing Viacom intensified on Thursday with a major shakeup of the company’s board.