Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has weighed in towards Paramount‘s hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, days after issuing a blistering assault on Netflix‘s settlement with WB to purchase the studio and streaming property.
In a press release, Warren stated, “A Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. merger could be a five-alarm antitrust fireplace and precisely what our anti-monopoly legal guidelines are written to stop.”
Warren additionally criticized among the funding for the Paramount bid, whereas urging that or not it’s reviewed independently of Trump affect by the DOJ and the Committee on Overseas Funding in america.
She stated, “Paramount Skydance’s new hostile bid is backed by a who’s who of Trump buddies, from Jared Kushner’s personal fairness agency to the Ellison household to cash flowing from the Center East — elevating severe questions on influence-peddling, political favoritism, and nationwide safety dangers. The Division of Justice and the Committee on Overseas Funding in america (CFIUS) should evaluate any Warner Bros. deal primarily based on the regulation and info, not who sucked up probably the most to Donald Trump.”
Warren sits on the Senate Finance Fee, which oversees CFIUS.
A Paramount spokesperson didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
Final week, Warren stated of the Netflix-WB deal, “This deal appears like an anti-monopoly nightmare. A Netflix-Warner Bros. would create one huge media big with management of near half of the streaming market — threatening to pressure People into greater subscription costs and fewer decisions over what and the way they watch, whereas placing American staff in danger.” Republicans like Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), chair of the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, additionally warned of the Netflix-WB transaction.
Paramount executives imagine that their transaction stands a higher probability of passing regulatory evaluate, with consists of not simply the DOJ however EU regulators. The wild card is Donald Trump, who on Sunday stated that he could be a part of the evaluate course of, one thing that Warren recommended was “an open invite for CEOs to curry favor with Trump in alternate for merger approvals.”
“It must be an impartial determination by the Division of Justice primarily based on the regulation and info,” Warren wrote on X.
