The Scoop
A group of Democratic senators, unhappy with Paramount CEO David Ellison’s refusal to appear at a hearing two weeks ago over the brewing takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, are ratcheting up the pressure.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — along with Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii — accused Ellison Thursday of a “pattern of evasion” and asked the billionaire to preserve all communications involving President Donald Trump, his family members, lobbyists, and Justice Department staff related to Paramount’s pursuit of Warner Bros., according to a letter from Booker’s office viewed by Semafor.
“Paramount’s apparent confidence that a politically sensitive transaction will clear without difficulty warrants serious scrutiny,” the senators wrote. Booker had asked Ellison to testify before an antitrust hearing earlier this month. Ellison refused and instead provided written testimony, according to letters viewed by Semafor, which Senate Democrats felt did not answer their questions.
Democrats can’t currently hold up the sale of Warner Bros. And Republicans, including Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Tim Scott, R-S.C., have raised their own questions about the competitive effects of the company’s sale to Netflix.
But the letter hints at what might happen — in the Warner deal and, more broadly, to other companies that have benefitted from aligning with the Trump administration — if Democrats retake the Senate in November. The senators suggested to Ellison that they would investigate any deal that Paramount struck for Warner, which, even if agreed to, likely wouldn’t close until well after the 2026 midterms.
Ellison in particular is leaning heavily on his relationship with Trump. His advisers have privately expressed confidence that they will triumph in the US over Netflix, between an antitrust division that seems ripe for lobbying, a president who is ideologically aligned with the Ellisons, and state attorneys general who are divided along partisan lines between the prospect of a Trump-boosting CNN or a job-cutting Netflix.
A representative for Ellison didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Know More
Paramount is trying to elbow into a signed $83 billion deal for Netflix to buy Warner Bros. It has seven days to negotiate with Warner, though its ability to boost its bid has been limited by a steep decline in the price of Oracle stock, which has been hammered by investor concerns over its AI bets.
On Tuesday, Warner Bros. said it would open talks with Paramount at $31 per share, citing a verbal offer from a senior Paramount banker.