Paramount Says Antisemitism Is Part of Opposition to Warner Bros. Takeover

Paramount Skydance executives and advisers believe antisemitism is playing a role in opposition to the company’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal valued at about $111 billion.

The Justice Department approved the merger last week, but the deal still faces possible challenges from state attorneys general and foreign regulators. Opponents of the deal include press freedom groups, some Democratic lawmakers, Hollywood critics and labor-focused advocates. They say the merger could give Trump-aligned billionaires too much control over major American media outlets, especially CNN, and could reduce competition in the entertainment industry.

Paramount says those concerns are not the whole story. Company advisers argue that some of the public backlash has become personal and is tied to the Ellison family’s Judaism, their support for Israel and Larry Ellison’s relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Makan Delrahim, Paramount’s chief legal officer and a former head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division during Trump’s first term, said in a recent Los Angeles Times interview that some critics are targeting the deal for political and antisemitic reasons.

“There’s a lot of fear-mongering ... They are running a political campaign,” Delrahim said. “Some of these people are trying to inflict harm on this transaction really because of their own antisemitic views.”

Supporters of the merger have pointed to a “Free Palestine” comment, followed by applause, at a recent anti-merger event. They also argue that some rhetoric around the deal has crossed from criticism of Israel into antisemitism. Opponents reject that framing and say the fight is about media power, editorial independence and Trump’s influence over major news platforms.

Jon Leibowitz, a former Federal Trade Commission chairman under President Barack Obama who is now advising Paramount, said he also believes antisemitism is present in some of the opposition.

“I can’t quantify it, but there seems to be an antisemitic component within the opposition,” Leibowitz said.

Critics of the deal strongly deny that their campaign is motivated by antisemitism. Seth Stern of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, who has opposed the takeover, said the accusation was an attempt to deflect from concerns over journalism and political influence.

“I’m one of many Jews working to stop the Ellisons from throwing American journalism under the bus to appease Donald Trump,” Stern said. He also called Delrahim’s accusation “offensive and ridiculous.”

The political dispute surrounding the merger has grown because David Ellison has angered many in Hollywood by moving closer to Trump. Larry Ellison, a major Trump donor, is helping finance the Warner Bros. Discovery takeover. Critics say those ties raise questions about the future of CNN, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, if it comes under Paramount control.

Those concerns intensified after changes at CBS and 60 Minutes, which critics see as a warning sign for CNN. The cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s show also became part of the backlash, although it took place shortly before Ellison completed his acquisition of Paramount.

The Justice Department said it approved the deal after an eight-month review. But the approval drew scrutiny after reports that senior DOJ officials signed off before career antitrust staffers had a chance to formally object.

Paramount officials are not accusing state attorneys general of antisemitism. Their claim is narrower: that some of the public pressure campaign against the Ellisons is being driven by personal hostility, politics and, in some cases, antisemitism.

The strongest public argument against the deal remains political and regulatory. But Paramount is now saying that religion and anti-Israel sentiment are also part of the atmosphere surrounding one of the biggest media fights in years.