Emmy-winning actor Mark Ruffalo has claimed that Hollywood figures are “afraid” to oppose the proposed merger of studios Paramount and Warner Brothers. In April, shareholders at media conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery approved an $81bn merger with competitor Paramount – which would result in the latter company owning HBO Max, the Harry Potter franchise and news outlet CNN. The deal has been criticised by industry professionals and politicians, who fear cost-cutting measures and Trump-friendly editorial changes at CNN as a result.
Ruffalo Speaks Out
Mark Ruffalo, who has been an outspoken critic of the merger, has spoken out against the deal in a new opinion piece – revealing that fellow actors are too scared to sign an open letter protesting against the merger. Kristen Stewart, Yorgos Lanthimos, Ben Stiller and Joaquin Phoenix are among the stars who’ve signed the “Block the Merger” letter, which says that the merger prioritises “the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good”.
Writing in The New York Times on Thursday (7 May) with American Economic Liberties Project director of research Matt Stoller, Ruffalo said: “The most revealing thing about that letter wasn’t the people who signed. It was the people who didn’t. Not because they disagreed — because they were afraid.
“There are many reasons to block this deal, but we now believe the most fundamental one is what we encountered when asking artists to use their voices: fear. A deep, ugly and pervasive fear of speaking out.
“We heard time and time again from artists, when asked to sign this letter, that they supported it but were afraid of retribution. Their fear is not unjustified.”
Claims of Retribution
They said that Paramount reportedly pulled its advertising from trade magazine The Ankler after one of its editorial directors was seen carrying a bag of ‘Block the Merger’ buttons, before claiming that a CNN discussion of the merger with Ruffalo was scrapped, with producers saying that it was “a delicate subject” given that Warner Bros. Discovery is its parent company. A CNN spokesperson told the publication that “no one advised any editorial employee at CNN not to pursue this story.”
“This merger will cause many harms in Hollywood, but one is already in effect: People are afraid to say what they think about their own industry,” they added. The Independent has contacted Paramount and CNN for comment.
Wider Opposition
Over 1,000 prominent Hollywood figures signed the letter in April, writing that the merger will result in “fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world”.
“Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major U.S. film studios to just four,” they added. That same month, Paramount CEO David Ellison reportedly hosted a dinner honouring US President Donald Trump while awaiting his administration’s decision whether to approve the merger. Ellison and his father Larry, who co-founded tech giant Oracle and is a prominent donor to the Republican party, have prior connections to Trump. Trump approved the merger between David Ellison’s Skydance and Paramount last year, with Ellison later making anti-woke commentator Bari Weiss the new editor-in-chief of Paramount-owned CBS News shortly after.
