Paramount-WBD merger approved fast, fueling political firestorm

Paramount-WBD merger – The Justice Department’s Friday approval of Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery without conditions has ignited a broader political backlash—ranging from free-speech warnings to anti-Israel rhetoric and allegations of favorit

On Friday, the Justice Department approved Paramount Skydance’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery in a $110 billion deal—no conditions attached. The speed of the approval. and the absence of strings. landed like a shockwave in a dispute that had already been heated by culture-war arguments about control of the media.

The backlash quickly reached beyond the usual Hollywood labor opponents such as IATSE and other Hollywood unions. One of the groups most visible in the merger protests is Codepink, an antiwar, anticapitalist organization that has injected anti-Israel rhetoric into its stance.

Paramount Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim, speaking in an interview this month, accused the opposition of antisemitism. He alleged that people were “trying to inflict harm on this transaction really because of their antisemitic views. ” and he pointed to the Ellison family’s background—stating that the Ellisons are Jewish—as a rare moment where a politically loaded theme is openly tied to a public business fight.

That framing has added a sharper edge to what, by convention, would largely be argued through anti-trust law. Merger opponents insist the Ellison family’s expanding media footprint—CBS News, CNN, and Larry Ellison’s stake in TikTok—threatens free speech and democratic society itself.

Paramount, for its part, says it’s trying to save Hollywood. It also argues the deal is being targeted for untoward political and racial reasons coming from far-left wing forces.

The perception that this is an unusual kind of fight has been building for months. Critics say the debate has moved far away from ordinary business fundamentals—unlike earlier. high-profile merger disputes where concerns were more squarely framed around price impacts. national security. or corporate tax treatment. Examples cited include security concerns around TikTok. opposition to the Kroger-Albertsons merger over fears the combined company would raise grocery prices. and Pfizer’s “tax inversion” deal with Allergan that would have let the pharmaceutical giant avoid paying U.S. corporate taxes.

Those efforts were eventually rejected, and the opposition was described as including bipartisan pushback. On the media side. observers point to the more muted reactions to Disney’s 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox and AT&T’s 2018 acquisition of Time Warner. where the concern level was described as more subdued.

But in the era of “Trump 2.0,” the merger has become political dynamite—especially with technology billionaire David Ellison and his ultra-wealthy father Larry Ellison deeply entrenched in the Trump camp.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) responded to the approval by posting on X: “This is terrible news for every American who doesn’t want Trump-aligned billionaires to control what they watch and how much they pay.”

A Wall Street Journal report on Monday said the DoJ’s senior leadership closed the investigation before career staffers could object to the deal. It also said a team of lawyers at the department had leaned toward recommending a lawsuit challenging it.

The Block the Merger coalition—comprised of more than three dozen groups, including the American Economic Liberties Project, the Future Film Coalition, and the Democracy Defenders Fund—said on Monday: “When we said this is what corruption looks like, this is what we meant.”

Paramount declined to comment.

Fueling the fires

The case for political control. critics argue. has been reinforced by David Ellison’s track record since he took over Paramount. One flashpoint is the firing of Stephen Colbert. an event that occurred before Skydance closed its acquisition of Paramount. but still left many skeptics convinced it wasn’t “purely financial.” Colbert has been among the most prominently vocal critics of Trump.

Then came changes at CBS News. In October. David Ellison installed Bari Weiss—described as a right-leaning commentator with no TV news experience—to run CBS News. Critics say her eight-month tenure was marked by mass layoffs and a retooling of “CBS Evening News. ” with the resulting ratings drop cited as fallout.

This month, further controversy followed her shake-up of “60 Minutes.” Fired correspondent Scott Pelley alleged that he was asked to include falsehoods and bias in a politically sensitive story.

Those critics say the worries now extend to CNN, especially after a Guardian report said Larry Ellison promised Trump he would fire the anchors at CNN after the deal closes. Neither Larry Ellison nor Paramount commented on that report.

Last month, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and Reporters Without Borders sent a letter to Paramount requesting internal documents to determine whether its leadership had promised favorable coverage in exchange for favorable regulatory treatment.

Earlier this month, a letter from nine press freedom advocacy groups argued: “The Paramount merger represents an existential threat to the free press, independent media, and free speech in this country and beyond, and should not be allowed to move forward.”

Culture-war heat also arrived through public figures. On Sunday. Jane Fonda spoke out again against the deal at The Town Hall in New York City with her Committee for the First Amendment. She warned: “You’re going to get a very thinned-out kind of culture. It’ll be flattened freedom of expression, independence and diverse news,” adding, “I have a personal stake in CNN. I don’t want to see it go that way.” Fonda is married to late CNN founder Ted Turner.

The Trump factor

Larry Ellison’s political connections are also central to how some opponents interpret the merger. The story cites Ellison as a significant financial contributor to Republicans including Tim Scott and Marco Rubio. While Ellison has not directly contributed to Trump’s campaigns. the piece says he hosted a campaign fundraiser in 2020 at his estate and met regularly with the president last year. with those details attributed to OpenSecrets.org.

It also cites a private dinner hosted by David Ellison for Trump in April at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, where the president sat at a table with Ellison and Weiss. This weekend. the Paramount Skydance CEO attended the UFC Freedom 250 fight night event at the White House. where Paramount+ was the exclusive streaming partner.

Codepink and the anti-Israel opening

Opposition groups such as Codepink have created a new opening for supporters of the merger to attack the motives behind the protests. Miller-Ink. a PR group backing Paramount’s efforts. said in a press release that the campaign calls itself a defense of democracy—but that “It is not.” The group said it is “a coordinated. lavishly funded operation run by organizations that share not just a mission but a checkbook. ” adding that the same checkbook has spent years financing anti-Israel advocacy. BDS infrastructure and other policy groups tied to anti-Israel efforts.

TheWrap was unable to verify the funding sources of some progressive groups opposing the merger and lobbying state AGs to sue.

Last week, the New York Post reported that Block the Merger is “organized by a cadre of anti-American groups funded by ultra-leftists including George Soros, Pierre Omidyar and Chinese communist ally Neville Singham,” citing “sources close to the merger” but without documentation.

Singham lives in Shanghai and, according to the New York Times, works with the Chinese government media machine to push progressive causes paired with Chinese government talking points. The story also cites that Singham is married to Jodie Evans, a political activist and co-founder of Codepink.

At a Block the Merger-hosted “Main Street. vs. The Merger” town hall at Lumiere Music Hall in Los Angeles earlier this month. applause reportedly erupted after “Free Palestine” was mentioned. Wall Street Journal reporter Joe Flint posted on X that there was “a subtle and not-so-subtle anti-Israel undertone” to some comments at the event aimed at rallying the industry and adjacent businesses to block the Paramount-Warner merger.

But those accusations may also be. the article says. an attempt by Paramount and pro-merger allies to muddy the water and raise doubts about the opposition group’s motives. Representatives for the Future Film Coalition. American Economic Liberties Project. and Democracy Defenders Fund—each listed as part of Block the Merger—did not respond to requests for comment.

While questions focus on the deal, organizers keep pushing the fight

On Saturday, the American Economic Liberties Project hosted another “Main Street vs. The Merger” roundtable at the WGA East headquarters in New York. The event featured speakers including Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), former Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, and WGAE Executive Director Sam Wheeler. The account says many questions centered on the fundamentals of the deal.

Still. the debate has swung wildly between competing narratives—free press warnings. corruption allegations. and the charge that anti-Israel rhetoric is intertwined with the merger opposition. Either way. both sides are digging in for what is shaping up to be an ugly and bitter fight over the next several months.

Paramount’s deal has already cleared a major hurdle with the Justice Department’s Friday approval, but the political heat shows no sign of cooling.

Paramount Skydance Warner Bros. Discovery merger Makan Delrahim Block the Merger Codepink Elizabeth Warren David Ellison Larry Ellison Bari Weiss Stephen Colbert CBS News 60 Minutes CNN Department of Justice anti-trust