Liberty Media’s John Malone shares laughs with media moguls

A who’s who of media moguls got together on Wednesday to fête Liberty Media Chairman John Malone. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and IAC/InterActiveCorp’s Barry Diller joined the dinner at Cipriani 25 to regale Malone and pals with tales of past conquests.

Diller, giving props to the powerhouse gathering of media heavyweights, joked that “under the general United Jewish Appeal antitrust exemption, the only other way we could be all together is for a funeral.”

Diller then riffed on Sumner Redstone’s “stimulus.”

Malone, joining the lighthearted theme of the evening, answered a question about what deal during his long and lucrative career he was most proud of by saying it was his four-year pursuit to get his wife, Leslie, to say yes to his proposal of marriage.

That four years was “in abstention,” the 75-year-old Irish-American quipped.

The audience, including Discovery Communications’ David Zaslav, Liberty Global’s Mike Fries and LionTree Advisors’ Aryeh Bourkoff, laughed like they knew what Malone was talking about.

The most glum person in the room last week may have been country singer Kenny Chesney, who, sources say, played in front of just a tiny group of fans. Many of the boldface names, it seems, skipped the concert to spend time chatting with each other instead.