A “Block the Merger” protest came together in Los Angeles on Saturday as opponents to the proposed Paramount Skydance takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery took their grievances to the public domain.
Writers, actors, crew members, and small business owners were in Beverly Hills alongside leaders from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)and the Writers Guild of America West amongst them.
They added their voices to others already moving against the merger.
Reuters reports stand-up comedian Adam Conover framed the ongoing media consolidation as an existential threat to an industry that made the United States a cultural power.
“It’s about to die, and that’s why I feel so passionately about this issue,” he lamented.
Conover was a featured speaker in what has been billed as the first stop in a three-city “Main Street vs. The Merger” tour bringing together a host of dependent entities and politicians who oppose Paramount Skydance’s plan to absorb Warner Bros. Discovery in a $110 billion transaction, the Reuters report details.
About 100 people gathered at Lumiere Music Hall in Los Angeles for the event as organized by advocacy groups, the Writers Guild of America and industry workers who wanted to voice their concerns about the merger.
Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat serving as an FCC commissioner, former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya and WGA West President Michelle Mulroney each took the stage at the Beverly Hills’ Lumiere Cinema.
“I know it’s exhausting, I’m exhausted,” Gomez sighed, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“Every day I’m speaking out about some new horror that this administration is doing, particularly on the First Amendment. I’m exhausted. But it’s not time to be tired. It’s time to get inspired because your voices really do matter.”
U.S. antitrust regulators appear poised to approve the combination, amid assurances from Paramount Skydance the deal would not hurt other studios or creative talent. CEO David Ellison has pledged the combined Paramount and Warner studios would stay productive by releasing at least 30 films a year.
But a group of U.S. states including California and New York are preparing a lawsuit to block the deal, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.