Politicians, the entertainment industry, and the public are reacting to Netflix’s deal with Warner Bros falling through after a ‘superior proposal’ from Paramount Skydance.
Paramount Skydance has entered a $111 billion (£82.2b) bid, which the Stranger Things streaming service will not match, ending a months-long battle.
Netflix released a statement on Thursday confirming it had ‘declined to raise its offer after Paramount Skydance had raised its own, with CEO Ted Sarandos saying matching the bid made the deal ‘no longer financially attractive’.
The statement continued: ‘This transaction was always “nice to have” at the right price, not “must have” at any price.’
This latest turn of events occurred shortly after Sarandos was spotted attending a meeting in the White House.
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Meanwhile, David Ellison, the chairman and CEO of Paramount, said in his own statement that he was ‘pleased WBD’s Board has unanimously affirmed the superior value of our offer, which delivers to WBD shareholders superior value, certainty and speed to closing.’
David Zaslav, WBD CEO, echoed that he believed the merger agreement would ‘create tremendous value for our shareholders’. If passed, the deal will reshape Hollywood in a major shakeup.
In order to be passed through, the deal will still need regulatory approval and to pass any antitrust tests; however, the industry, government figures and viewers are already sharing concerns over Ellison’s ties to US President Trump.
What is Paramount’s link to Trump?
Paramount was in deep financial distress when Skydance completed its purchase of the company in August 2025, installing David Ellison (son of billionaire Oracle co-founder and major Republican donor Larry Ellison) as CEO.
Ahead of the purchase, Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million (£11m) to settle a lawsuit over the editing of a 60-minute Vice President Kamala Harris CBS News interview.
After Ellison’s arrival, he installed Conservative commentator Bari Weiss as Editor-in-Chief of CBS.
Just days before the Paramount bid was announced, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham invited Ellison as his guest to Trump’s State of the Union address.
His invitation to the event comes shortly after US President Trump called for Netflix to fire board member Susan Rice (a former member of the Obama administration), dubbing her a ‘political hack’.
After his social media attack, Sarandos shared he wasn’t concerned to the BBC, saying: ‘This is a business deal, it’s not a political deal. He [Trump] likes to do a lot of things on social media.’
Nonetheless, just days later, Netflix’s deal fell through.
In December, Trump implied he was leaning in favour of Paramount’s bid when he declared it was ‘imperative CNN be sold’ since Paramount was the only company that included the purchase of the news network in their bid.
At the time, insiders also told the Wall Street Journal Ellison had reportedly ‘offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he’d make sweeping changes to CNN.’
In recent weeks, Trump had declared he ‘wasn’t involved’ in the bidding war, however, this coincided with reports of multiple behind-doors meetings with Ellison, according to CNN.
What has the reaction been to the Paramount bid for Warner Bros?
Several Democratic figures have raised concerns about this latest development, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has shared concerns about Warner Bros.’ sale for several months.
‘What did Trump officials tell the Netflix CEO today at the White House? Looks like crony capitalism with the President corrupting the merger process in favour of the billionaire Ellison family,’ she wrote in a post on X following the news.
Tom Steyer, a Democratic candidate for governor of California, labelled the potential deal: ‘Oligarchy in full effect.’
Meanwhile, an anonymous CNN producer claimed to The Guardian: ‘A Paramount WBD merger is a disaster for the people who work at both companies [CBS and CNN], and if Bari Weiss takes control of CNN, it will be the end of the global network Ted Turner founded.’
A memo from Chief Executive Mark Thompson to staff on Thursday evening, obtained by The Guardian, urged staff to ‘not jump to conclusions’ about what the acquisition could mean.
According to Variety, one Warner Bros. exec called Paramount’s last-minute outbid a ‘gut punch’.
Watchdog companies are also raising concerns.
Free Press co-CEO Craig Aaron said: ‘The Ellisons have already promised the Trump administration that they’ll make sweeping changes to CNN given the chance, and we know what that means: firing journalists, spiking important stories, and replacing the news with empty propaganda.’
He went as far as to say it ‘endangers our democracy’.
People on social media have echoed similar worries.
‘Trump will basically own everything here if this deal actually falls through in Paramount’s favour,’ PattyNest warned.
‘I want to get the hell out of this country, man,’ Zachatck64 shared. Amy Siskind noted that ‘the path to a successful acquisition should not run through the whims of a wannabe dictator!’
What movies and TV shows will Paramount own?
Since Paramount wants the whole company, this would include ownership over HBO Max and CNN.
Warner Bros Discovery owns several iconic IPs, including Harry Potter, which is set to return with a TV reboot next year and Game of Thrones, as well as movies like Superman, Barbie and The Lord of the Rings.
Hit TV shows like The White Lotus and Succession would likely enter the content library on the streaming platform.
A full picture of what will be owned by Paramount will become clearer as the deal advances.
What happens next?
As explained by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, he wrote that this merger is ‘not a done deal’ and will most especially face antitrust scrutiny.
He continued: ‘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.’
Paramount will need approval from the US states, the US Department of Justice, as well as European regulators.
States have the power to sue to block deals, though the DOJ has the most resources to do so, according to Reuters.
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