Sen. Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, is holding a “spotlight hearing” Wednesday in Washington about Paramount Skydance‘s proposed $111 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
David Ellison, Paramount’s chairman and CEO, will not be able to attend the hearing because of a death in the family, according to the company.
“Regretfully, Mr. Ellison is unable to be in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, as he is attending a funeral due to a death in the family,” Ted Lehman, Paramount Skydance’s SVP and head U.S. public policy and government affairs, wrote in a letter to Booker dated April 14. Booker had invited Ellison to speak at the hearing in a letter sent Monday.
According to Lehman, Paramount’s megadeal to merge with WBD “is quite straightforward: We believe the transaction should be reviewed on the merits. And on the merits, the transaction is procompetitive.”
Lehman continued, “Most importantly, a Paramount Skydance/Warner Bros. Discovery transaction is all about increasing the amount of content released in theaters and streaming platforms. This increase in content will create competition and greater demand for creative talent. We want customers in theaters, where they can experience the full moviegoing experience, and the increased number of theatrical releases that the combined company will generate will provide our streaming platform with an impressive array of content that will check the dominance of rivals like Netflix.”
Ellison had previously declined an invitation to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. The subcommittee which held a hearing Feb. 3 where Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery chief revenue and strategy officer Bruce Campbell testified amid sharp questioning.
Following the hearing, Booker requested Ellison’s written testimony, “seeking insights on the proposed sale of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount’s parallel bid, and asking Ellison to address concerns about political interference in the merger review process,” according to a group of Democratic senators. However, they said, “Ellison’s response failed to address these issues.” Those included questions about whether Ellison had ever donated money to Trump directly or indirectly and whether there had been any communications regarding a personal benefit to Trump with a potential Paramount-WBD merger.
The senators also said the Feb. 19 letter “serves as notice to preserve records related to the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery transaction.”
According to Booker’s letter this week, Paramount-Skydance has not responded to preservation letter signed by the eight U.S. senators. “As the leader of the company seeking to execute one of the largest media mergers in American history, your continued unwillingness to engage with Congressional oversight is itself a matter of public concern,” Booker wrote.
Paramount has said the Warner Bros. Discovery merger would ensure creatives have “more avenues for their work, not fewer” and that the combined company would “greenlight more projects” and “back bold ideas.” Per Booker’s letter, “These are serious commitments. This forum is an opportunity for you to make them directly to Congress and to the workers, journalists, and creators whose livelihoods depend on whether those promises are kept.”
The Senate hearing is slated for Wednesday starting at at 3 p.m. ET. Speakers scheduled to appear are: filmmaker David Borenstein; Michael Isaac, director of legal services at the Writers Guild of America East;
Katie Phang, attorney, legal analyst and former host of “The Katie Phang Show”; and Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, co-founder and executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, and member of the steering committee of Jane Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment.
Paramount’s proposed Warner Bros. takeover is subject to approval by WBD shareholders at an April 23 special meeting. It also is pending regulatory approval.
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