Democratic lawmakers and California’s attorney general expressed deep skepticism about Paramount Skydance’s potential takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery after Netflix abruptly pulled out of the bidding war Thursday, the latest twist in a contentious and politically loaded corporate drama.
WBD’s board of directors still needs to formally approve Paramount’s offer, and any deal between the two Hollywood giants — the owners of storied film studios and top streaming apps — requires sign-off from regulators. The board could meet as early as Friday, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“Paramount/Warner Bros. is not a done deal,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny — the California Department of Justice has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our review.”
Bonta, a Democrat who took office in 2021, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the next steps in his office’s investigation. The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on the WBD-Paramount transaction.
The combined entity would be led by David Ellison, the son of Oracle mogul Larry Ellison, a close ally of President Donald Trump. “Larry Ellison is great and his son David is great,” Trump told reporters in October. “They’re friends of mine. They’re big supporters of mine, and they’ll do the right thing.”
In recent months, lawmakers in both parties have warned that the takeover of WBD by either Netflix or Paramount risked concentrating too much power in one media and entertainment company. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a key voice on competition issues, reiterated those concerns after Netflix dropped out Thursday afternoon.
“A Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. merger is an antitrust disaster threatening higher prices and fewer choices for American families,” Warren said in a statement.
Warren alluded to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ meeting at the White House on Thursday: “What did Trump officials tell the Netflix CEO today at the White House?” The sit-down preceded Netflix’s announcement that it would not match Paramount’s offer for WBD assets.
“A handful of Trump-aligned billionaires are trying to seize control of what you watch and charge you whatever price they want,” Warren added. “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.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Warren’s statement.
Politics have played a prominent role in the fight for WBD. Trump, who at one point said he might weigh in on the deal, told NBC News in early February he would not be “involved” in the proceedings. Then, last week, he warned Netflix it would “pay the consequences” if it did not fire board member Susan Rice, a former Biden administration official.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel had planned to hold a March 4 hearing on competition issues related to the Netflix-WBD tie-up. In an email Friday morning, a spokesman for Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the chairman of the subcommittee, said that the hearing would be canceled.
“Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Brothers raised serious antitrust concerns,” Lee said. “When a massive streaming platform consolidates even more TV shows and movies behind a single paywall, American families lose. Walking away from this deal is a win for consumers.”
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the antitrust panel, described the proposed merger as “far from settled” and said he has “renewed” his invitation for Ellison to testify before Congress.
“Because I believe that the hearing should have proceeded as planned,” Booker said in a statement, “I intend to exercise Congress’ oversight authority and scrutinize this deal just as we did the Netflix transaction. My office will announce those plans in the days ahead.”
Alvaro Bedoya, a former Democratic commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust law, blasted the proposed deal in a post on X. “One family is about to control CBS, CNN, HBO, and TikTok,” Bedoya wrote, referencing Larry Ellison’s role in a consortium of investors taking over TikTok’s U.S. operations. “Block this rotten deal.”
The international reach of both WBD and Paramount means public officials outside the U.S. will also have an opportunity to weigh in, including European Union regulators.
Paramount’s bid for WBD is for the entire company, including the Warner Bros. film studio, HBO, the HBO Max streaming platform and a suite of cable channels that includes CNN. Netflix was looking to acquire only WBD’s studio and streaming units, pending a spinoff of the cable portfolio into a separate entity.
