Backlash to the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger is growing, with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani calling the deal a “shameful monument to corruption.”
In a statement released Tuesday, Sept. 22, Mamdani warned the merger will give Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison more influence over what Americans watch and read.
“America is free only when the media is competitive, independent, and accountable to the people,” Mamdani wrote. “This merger strikes a chilling blow against that freedom — and hands even more power to billionaires like David Ellison to decide what Americans see and hear.”
He thanked New York Attorney General Letitia James for securing worker protections under the settlement, but said the decision to clear the merger was “a betrayal that the American people won’t soon forget.”
His criticism came a day after California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced he and his counterparts from 11 other states, including James, had reached an agreement with Paramount Skydance, ending an antitrust lawsuit targeting the company’s planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Related: States Clear Way for Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Amid Warnings of Fallout
The settlement requires Paramount to increase U.S. film production and invest an additional $1.5 billion in domestic filming over five years.
It also calls for an independent board intended to protect reporting at CBS News and CNN from interference, and offers assurances that the company will stay in California.
Bonta insisted the settlement was “not a vote of support for this merger.” Still, the California leader is facing intense criticism over the decision to settle, as well as a tarnished reputation.
In an analysis published Tuesday by TheWrap, founder Sharon Waxman argued Paramount’s threat to exit the Golden State weakened Bonta’s position.
“The California Attorney General had been saying for weeks that he was seeking to stop the merger. But that became impossible once Paramount threatened to leave the state,” Waxman wrote.
Variety also reported political pressure, including from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, pushed Bonta toward a settlement after Ellison’s team said he was looking at Tennessee as Paramount’s new home if no deal was reached by Oct. 1.
“In the end, the one-two punch of Newsom and Nashville proved too much for Bonta to withstand,” the publication said.
Ellison, who is the son of billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, said the settlement clears the way for the companies to close the deal.
“With both groups’ concerns now addressed, we have complete clearance for this merger and can move toward closing,” he said in a statement Monday, adding, “We’re excited to bring these two iconic companies together.”
Citing redundancies, industry analysts have said layoffs are inevitable once the deal closes.
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