Paging Dr. Redstone: Viacom president Philippe …

Paging Dr. Redstone: Viacom president Philippe Dauman was optimistic Tuesday in Cannes, where he downplayed Sumner Redstone’s move this week to sell off $US233 million in stock to help pay down the company’s debt. We guess it is better than last week’s estimate of $400 million, but Dauman isn’t letting numbers get in the way: “If you have a life-threatening crisis,” he said, “there is no one on the planet you would more want to have by your side, helping you figure out how to get out of it, than Sumner Redstone.” Oh, please, Philippe — we love Sumner, too, but everyone knows that nobody assuages A-list panic better than Werner Herzog. [Variety]