December 08, 2025

Warren on Paramount-Skydance Hostile Bid: “Five-Alarm Antitrust Fire”

Washington, D.C. – Today, in response to the news that Paramount-Skydance launched a hostile bid for Warner Bros., U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released the following statement:

“A Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. merger would be a five-alarm antitrust fire and exactly what our anti-monopoly laws are written to prevent. Paramount Skydance’s new hostile bid is backed by a who's who of Trump buddies, from Jared Kushner’s private equity firm to the Ellison family to money flowing from the Middle East — raising serious questions about influence-peddling, political favoritism, and national security risks. The Department of Justice and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States must review any Warner Bros. deal based on the law and facts, not who sucked up the most to Donald Trump.”

Senator Warren has long sounded the alarm on antitrust concerns and apparent political favoritism in the Trump administration’s handling of media mergers:

  • On December 5, Senator Warren responded to news of Netflix’s winning bid for Warner Bros., calling it an “anti-monopoly nightmare.”
  • On November 21, while on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Senator Warren called out Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison on his own network.
  • On November 19, Senator Warren led Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in writing to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater, warning that a potential Warner Bros. deal could be tainted by political favoritism and corruption.
  • On August 1, Senator Warren released a statement in response to Paramount and Skydance’s responses to her letters to each of the companies, describing the responses as “dodgy” and calling for “a full, independent investigation” into whether the companies or their executives engaged in any criminal behavior connected to the approval of the companies’ multi-billion-dollar merger.
  • On July 24, Sen. Warren responded to the Trump administration’s approval of the Paramount Skydance merger, saying, “Bribery is illegal no matter who is president.”
  • On February 20, Sen. Warren urged the DOJ to closely scrutinize the proposed Disney-Fubo deal and warned of increased costs for TV viewers.

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