Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty Images (Stephane Cardinale, Pascal Le Segretain)
The Paramount and Warner Bros. merger started messy, after Warner Bros. tried to make a deal with Netflix, and hasn’t gotten any cleaner. More and more celebrities are signing on to an open letter that declares “unequivocal opposition” to the deal. In recent days, Pedro Pascal, Edward Norton, and Florence Pugh have all signed the letter. They’re joined by other legitimately A-list talent. Ben Stiller, Glenn Close, Jason Bateman, Kristen Stewart, Don Cheadle, J.J. Abrams, Mark Ruffalo, Rose Byrne, Sandra Hüller, Taika Waititi, and Tiffany Haddish have all signed on. Even people who are known for work at Paramount are speaking up. South Park creator Trey Parker signed the letter as did Adam McKay, whose movie The Big Short was released by Paramount, and both Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, whose show Broad City aired on Comedy Central. It’s a murderers’ row of people who want to kill this deal.
“Our industry is already under severe strain, in large part due to prior waves of consolidation,” the letter reads. “We have witnessed a steep decline in the number of films produced and released, alongside a narrowing of the kinds of stories that are financed and distributed. Increasingly, a small number of powerful entities determine what gets made—and on what terms—leaving creators and independent businesses with fewer viable paths to sustain their work … We are deeply concerned by indications of support for this merger that prioritize the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good. The integrity, independence, and diversity of our industry would be grievously compromised.”
So what is Paramount’s new CEO, David Ellison, doing right now? Yesterday he skipped Senator Cory Booker’s “spotlight hearing” about the deal. “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,” Paramount Skydance SVP Ted Lehman wrote in a letter to Booker, per Variety. The family member who died is not yet confirmed. Lehman added, “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.” And the rest of Hollywood said all at once: “Sure, Jan.”
Update, April 16, 1:20p.m.: It appears that Ellison was free enough to go to CinemaCon.
Note to @CoryBooker @SenWarren for no reason at all: David Ellison just appeared in person at the CinemaCon movie theater conference in Las Vegas.
— Matthew Belloni (@MattBelloni) April 16, 2026
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