Why Mark Ruffalo’s Paramount Merger Outrage Looks Selective

Hollywood’s latest mega merger is nearly across the finish line, and the usual celebrity outrage machine is already firing on all cylinders. A federal judge has approved Paramount’s settlement with 12 states that challenged its planned $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The ruling clears a major obstacle for a deal that could close as soon as early October. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín said the proposed consent decree was a “fair, reasonable, and good faith approach” to the competitive harms alleged by the states. California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other state prosecutors had originally sought to block the merger, arguing that the combined company could reduce choices for theatergoers and cable customers. Instead, Paramount made additional commitments. The company agreed to increase film production in the United States over the next five years, put millions into a fund for workers displaced by the merger, and establish new editorial monitoring for CNN and CBS. That doesn’t mean everyone is satisfied. Actor Mark Ruffalo, who has opposed the deal from the start, took to Threads this week to say “this merger will stifle creativity, weaken free speech, and cost ...