Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of the loudest antitrust voices in Congress, sharply criticized Paramount Skydance’s sudden victory over Netflix in its bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, calling the merger of the two legacy studios an “antitrust disaster threatening higher prices and fewer choices for American families.”
Two months after Warner Bros. selected Netflix as the winning bid with its $82.7 billion offer, Paramount has put forth a $31/share offer with financing from, among others, Larry Ellison, the Oracle CEO and father of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison. Other sweeteners in the deal include a $7 billion payment to Warner Bros. in the event that regulators block the acquisition.
Netflix, whose co-CEO Ted Sarandos met with Trump officials at the White House on Thursday, opted not to match Paramount Skydance’s higher offer, bowing out of a bidding war that it seemed on course to win. For Sen. Warren, the latest twist in the Hollywood merger battle is a sign of “crony capitalism.”
“What did Trump officials tell the Netflix CEO today at the White House?” Sen. Warren said in a statement. “A handful of Trump-aligned billionaires are trying to seize control of what you watch and charge you whatever price they want. With the cloud of corruption looming over Trump’s Department of Justice, it’ll be up to the American people to speak up and state attorneys general to enforce the law.”
For Democrats, the potential merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. under the ownership of the Trump-aligned Ellisons is particularly concerning given the inclusion of CNN in Warner Bros. Discovery’s portfolio. Cable networks under WBD’s ownership were not included in Netflix’s proposed acquisition, as the streamer sought film and television IP to expand its content library.
Paramount Skydance has come under repeated criticism from the left over its appointment of The Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News, most notably on her decision in December to pull a “60 Minutes” story investigating the El Salvador prison CECOT, where the Trump Administration has sent an undetermined number of deportees. The story was aired last month.
Beyond Congressional Democrats, the sale of Warner Bros. Discovery has been opposed by groups such as Cinema United, Writers Guild of America, and the American Economic Liberties Project, who all sent a letter in January to state attorneys general urging them to take antitrust action blocking a sale to Netflix or Paramount Skydance.
On Wednesday, a group of 11 Republican state AGs sent a letter to the DOJ urging an investigation into the Netflix-WBD merger, but it is unclear whether Paramount’s bid will attract similar scrutiny given the Ellisons’ proximity to Trump.
On the Democrat side, California AG Rob Bonta said in a statement last week that his office would review a WBD sale no matter who put forth the winning bid, noting that market consolidation has led to “increased unaffordability, a loss of good-paying job opportunities, and fewer choices for consumers.” He added that California’s film and entertainment industry “not only has historical importance to our state,” but is also is a “critical sector that buoys the state’s economy of California and touches the lives of Americans daily.”
