Jane Fonda again voiced her disapproval of the pending acquisition of Warner Bros. by Paramount Skydance, saying it would be “terrible” for the industry and consumers — despite her affinity for Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison.
“They’re carrying so much debt. The Ellisons are carrying so much debt, and it’s being postponed now, so that they have to pay these huge sums,” Fonda said, speaking Thursday at the DVF Awards in Venice (as reported by Variety). “The merger would be terrible for consumers. Prices would go up. Thousands and thousands of people would lose their jobs, and as a creative, the fewer studios there are, the fewer places that we can take our products. We lose bargaining power. Unions lose their power.”
Fonda then highlighted her own friendly relationship with Ellison, who was an executive producer on her Netflix series “Grace and Frankie” through his Skydance Television banner. The 88-year-old star and activist said that history doesn’t impact how she is considering the consequences of the merger.
“There’s a very robust and growing movement to stop the mergers. It’s sad for me because I like David Ellison very much. David’s Skydance financed ‘Grace and Frankie,’ my 7-year-long run for Netflix,” Fonda said at the event. “I got to know him, and I like him, but that doesn’t change things. This is not a personal thing.”
Fonda was being honored at the 17th DVF Awards, an annual event spearheaded by Diane von Furstenberg to spotlight women. This year’s other honorees included Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados; Lynsey Addario, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist; Wawira Njiru, founder and CEO of Food4Education; and Gisèle Pelicot, an author that became a feminist figure when she waived her anonymity in a 2024 mass rape trial in France.
Fonda again tackled the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger later in her speech by defending Mark Ruffalo. Paramount Skydance has accused Ruffalo of antisemitism, responding to a statement by the actor that disapproved of the coming merger and highlighted business ties between Larry Ellison’s Oracle and Israel’s military, which the actor said is committing genocide against Palestinians. Fonda had previously voiced support for Ruffalo in a statement via her 1A Committee.
“Larry Ellison, because he doesn’t like Mark Ruffalo’s position on the merger, accuses him of antisemitism, when he said nothing that isn’t within his constitutional right to say,” Fonda said at the awards. “It’s a tactic they’re using. He should be ashamed of himself, Larry Ellison. But there’s a lot of support for Mark. A lot of people came forward.”
