Heartbreak does not feel good in a place like this.
In the wake of the startling news of Netflix‘s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (and Paramount‘s hostile counter bid), Jane Fonda took to satire to convey her antitrust concerns. Spoofing Nicole Kidman‘s zeitgeisty AMC Theatres ad, the activist and actress warned of corporate greed and worsening cinematic offerings.
“We come to this place for mergers,” Fonda began, mirroring Kidman’s words and entry into a theater. “We stream to self-silence, to censor, to slop. Where content is chosen by the best billionaires we have.”
Instead of relishing in “dazzling images on a huge silver screen,” the Grace and Frankie star faked awe at “dazzling focus-grouped, pre-digested content that lets your brain not do too much thinky-thinky.”
“Somehow corporate greed feels good in a place like this,” she continued, watching movies play out on her phone instead of the big screen. “Somehow mergers feel good in a place like this.”
In the parody, which was produced with famed SNL feeder The Groundlings, Fonda is then interrupted by an interloper who tells her: “Ma’am, excuse me, ma’am. What are you doing? You gotta go. We’re about to knock this whole place down in five minutes to make a data center, so let’s go. Come on.”
Voicing her criticisms in the caption, the two-time Oscar winner added, “Regardless of which company ends up acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery or its parts, the resulting impact is clear: Consolidation at this scale would be catastrophic for an industry built on free expression, for the creative workers who power it, and for consumers who depend on a free, independent media ecosystem to understand the world. It will mean fewer jobs, fewer creative risks, fewer news sources and far less diversity in the stories Americans get to hear. Consolidation is even scarier in the Trump era because the administration is comfortable using its merger review power to extract political concessions that put our Freedom of Speech at risk.”
Last week, Fonda expressed similar sentiments via her newly revived Committee for the First Amendment, noting the group — originally launched by her father to combat McCarthyism — is “ready to mobilize” against the deal.
On Dec. 5, Netflix announced it would be buying WBD and its streaming assets in a deal worth $82.7 billion, a valuation of nearly $28 a share. Shortly thereafter, Paramount revealed its hostile bid, a cash offer of $30 per share. President Donald Trump has thus far declined to take sides in the drama, which will unfold over the next weeks and ultimately require regulatory approval. Following the whiplash news, entertainment industry leaders and political officials have sounded off about competition laws, with Elizabeth Warren calling the impending merger “a five-alarm antitrust fire and exactly what our anti-monopoly laws are written to prevent.”
