UPDATE: Paramount CEO David Ellison informed Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders on Monday that the company will be taking them to court, initiating legal action aimed at forcing disclosure around WBD’s proposed agreement with Netflix. Ellison also revealed that Paramount intends to put forward its own nominees for WBD’s board, arguing that those candidates would oppose moving ahead with the Netflix transaction.
EARLIER: So, what’s going on here exactly? A simple retweet is being talked about more this morning than the Golden Globes—which might say more about the ceremony than the retweet itself.
Yes, Donald Trump—him again—has seemingly, sort of, finally taken a side in the Netflix–Paramount bid to acquire Warner Bros., and it may have made David Ellison’s day.
Earlier Sunday, as the Golden Globes were underway, Trump retweeted a One America News article complaining that Netflix and WBD’s proposed $83 billion deal is bad for the country and for democracy.
The piece, titled “Stop the Netflix Cultural Takeover,” by John M. Pierce, urges the DOJ to stop Netflix in its tracks for the sake of “free expression” and “America’s cultural pluralism.”
Netflix should compete, not conquer. And the United States has a responsibility to ensure that no corporation can dominate the national imagination through raw market power and ideological activism [..] Netflix has repeatedly used its global platform to elevate progressive narratives while suppressing dissenting viewpoints.
Pierce supports Paramount’s recently rejected $108 billion hostile takeover offer and urges Trump to step in and stop Netflix.
It is time to say no to a woke media monopoly before the damage becomes impossible to reverse.
This simple retweet from Trump may have ruined Netflix and Warner Bros.’ night at the Globes. They know there are three more years of Trump left in the White House, and that his DOJ has its knives sharpened, ready to review the deal—bringing intense scrutiny and plenty of headaches in the process. It won’t be smooth sailing.
Quite honestly, that’s probably exactly what Trump wants. The retweet seems to send a message to WBD’s David Zaslav and the company’s board that he prefers Paramount in this fight. It’s also the first time the president has publicly weighed in on the matter, seemingly siding with the Ellisons.
It’s no wonder 20th Century decided to dump the movie during the last week of August—a place where movies are set up to die quietly before the fall movie season begins.