Paramount Refused to Air Ads Opposing Its Merger with Warner Bros.

The viewers who called in the Paramount river + of UFC Freedom 250 On Sunday night, a sign was held President Trump’The nation’s 80th birthday and semiquincentennial, was marked by a spectacle of mixed martial artists beating each other bloody in a large cage placed on White House grass. But there was one painful blow they missed: announcing the explosion A combined deal of $111 billion in the middle Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.

That’s because Paramount refused to advertise the ad, according to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit group that donated to the event.

The rejected 30-second place shows Trump calling the media “the enemy of the people” and suggesting that Trump-allied Paramount chairman and CEO David Ellison may pressure CNN, the Warner Bros.

The ad highlighted a New York Times story from April about Ellison party alone in honor of Mr. Trump as Paramount is waiting for the approval of the proposal, which the Department of Justice was scheduled for Friday. It also quoted Scott Pelley, the reporter recently 60 minutes amid changes at Paramount-owned CBS News overseen by Ellison and network editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. Pelley he says the new administration wanted him to “insert falsehoods and biases” into his report in order to “favour a moment favored by the Trump administration.”

FPF warns that if the Paramount-WBD deal goes ahead, CNN’s media will soon be in trouble. similar industry activityin recognition of Trump’s support for the acquisition and a comments from defense secretary Pete Hegseth in March: “As soon as David Ellison takes over the net, it will be fine.” (Ellison’s father, Larry Ellison, the billionaire founder of the software company Oracle, also supports Trump and has played a major role in building the family’s TV empire, including a large stake in Paramount.)

“Let’s stop Trump’s censorship and stop this merger,” the ad concluded. A direct link to the FPF Web page by sending letters to the congressional delegation to investigate “Trump-Paramount Corruption”. (Disclosure: WIRED’s international director Katie Drummond is on the FPF board of directors.)

“Ellison cannot blame himself, his company, or his friend Trump,” said Seth Stern, FPF’s chief advocacy officer, in a statement about the rejected ad. “This scandal is bad for press freedom, bad for society, and bad for Paramount – just look at CBS’ recent troubles under Ellison’s watch,” he continued, referring to the uproar that has been taking place on the Internet since Ellison’s Skydance Media closed acquisition of Paramount last August. “Billionaires who don’t respect the First Amendment shouldn’t be in the news.”

FPF says Paramount refused to announce the deal due to a conflict of interest. Stern dismissed the claims as fraudulent because of the relationship between the media giant, the Ellisons, and Trump, saying that Paramount “seems not to see the argument about promising the Trump administration to cooperate and integrate, by holding high-profile parties in honor of Trump while attacking CBS and CNN reporters, or broadcasting UFC news.”

Neither the White House nor Paramount responded to requests for comment. CNN declined to comment on the matter.

Biography of David Ellison appearing alongside Trump on Sunday’s UFC event (Paramount acquired the exclusive rights to broadcast the sport in a seven years, $7.7 billion will do last year) had an air of victory. But the Attorney Generals can sue to prevent Paramount’s blockbuster acquisition Warner Bros., and the authorities in California, New York, and other countries are. he says he plans to do that. While this will only delay the deal for a few months, this delay could extend into the midterm elections when Trump and his supporters will need all the best they can get.