Viacom Shakes Off Karmazin Loss

Redstone, who holds 71% of Viacom's shareholder votes, has long been understood to throw his weight around at others' peril. "You've got to remember that this is Sumner's toy box," McAlpine says. "When he wants to play with the toys, they're his toys to play with, and he doesn't like being told that he can't."

Frustration

In contradiction of perceptions like that, Redstone insisted Tuesday morning both that he will step down as CEO within three years, and that he played no part in Karmazin's departure. "I want you to know that nobody asked for Mel's resignation," he said, telling reporters an hour later, "I did not ask Mel to resign."

What appeared to be behind Karmazin's resignation, said Redstone, was frustration -- which Redstone said he heard through another executive two weeks ago -- over Viacom's stock price and the performance of the company's Infinity radio division.

Karmazin didn't make himself public Tuesday, saying only in a Viacom statement, "for personal and professional reasons, I have decided to leave Viacom and pursue other challenges."

"There was no single event," Redstone said.

Seeking to bolster belief in his unwavering support of Karmazin, Redstone told analysts about two recent occasions on which he has made public declarations of support for Karmazin: Once in a recent story published in The New York Times, the other in a recent staff meeting at which, Redstone said, Karmazin blamed himself for Viacom's poorly performing stock.

"'You're wrong, Mel. You have no right to blame yourself,'" Redstone reported himself as saying at that meeting. "'The market is not your responsibility, and sooner or later, the market will be rational.'"

Redstone didn't specify the date of the meeting, nor did he answer a reporter's question Tuesday as to when last he spoke with Karmazin.