Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders vote Thursday on Paramount‘s $110 billion bid to acquire the company, with opposition reaching its peak hours before the virtual meeting. The WBD Paramount merger has drawn resistance from the Writers Guild, lawmakers, and media figures who say it will reduce competition and harm workers.
The special shareholder meeting opens at 10 AM ET and is expected to run briefly. David Ellison‘s Paramount struck the deal in late February, offering $31 a share in cash for WBD. The $110 billion transaction was formally announced February 27. Shareholders have been divided on whether to accept the terms since.
Opposition has been building for weeks. An open letter against the deal gathered more than 3,000 signatures, including many prominent entertainment figures. The controversy reached major industry events, including CinemaCon in Las Vegas last week, where executives debated how the WBD Paramount merger would reshape film and streaming.
WBD Paramount merger protests on multiple fronts
The Writers Guild of America hosted a Zoom press conference Wednesday titled “Rejecting the Paramount Skydance Bid: Why WBD Shareholders Must Vote ‘No’.” Participants included former FTC commissioner Alvaro Bedoya and former CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta.
Michele Mulroney, President of Writers Guild of America West, said the combined company would become the largest single employer of WGA members. “The loss of direct head-to-head competition will harm writers and eliminate jobs across the industry,” she said. “Consolidated economic power can easily be turned into political power that threatens free speech and creative expression.”
Jane Fonda‘s Committee for the First Amendment announced a rally outside WBD’s New York headquarters. Speakers include NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, former NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, and Oscar-winning documentarian David Borenstein.
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) released a 13-minute video arguing that post-merger promises routinely go unfulfilled. “We’ve already seen case after case of people saying, before the merger, oh, we’re not going to do this,” Booker said. “And then after the merger, that big corporation turns around, does exactly what they said they wouldn’t do.”
What Ellison is promising
Ellison has committed to ramping up film and television production. He targets $6 billion in cost cuts across a range of areas, not exclusively personnel. He expects the deal to close in the third quarter of 2026.
Acosta referenced Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth‘s comment that “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” referring to WBD-owned CNN. The Ellison family has a close relationship with President Trump, a point critics raised on the press call.
Regulatory approval still needed
Shareholder approval is one step in a longer process for the WBD Paramount merger. The deal still needs clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. Participants on the WGA press call expressed hope that California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by other state attorneys general, would file suit to block it.