David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance has cleared a major regulatory hurdle as it moves toward completing its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, but no deal has yet been reached and it could face other legal challenges.
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division approved the deal, Variety confirmed. As Politico first reported, regulators have given the green light to Paramount’s partnership with WBD without seeking “any divestitures, behavioral remedies or concessions.”
“The Department has completed its analysis of the proposed merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. and, based on the evidence obtained in its investigation, has determined that the transaction is not likely to harm competition or U.S. consumers with respect to video-on-demand streaming, linear TV, studio development, or the production or distribution of theatrical films,” the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said Friday in a statement regarding the conclusion of its investigation into the Paramount-WBD merger.
The mega deal, which brings together Paramount properties including CBS, CBS News, Paramount Pictures, and Paramount+, along with WBD’s HBO and HBO Max, Warner Bros. Pictures, CNN, TNT, TBS, HGTV, and others, was met with strong industry backlash. Paramount executives have said they expect the merger to result in more than $6 billion in cost savings, suggesting that large-scale layoffs will continue.
More than 5,500 filmmakers, actors and other Hollywood professionals have so far signed an open letter opposing the deal, arguing it will lead to job losses, higher prices and less competition. Sponsors of the BlockTheMerger.com open letter include the Writers Guild of America (WGA); Individual signatories include Florence Pugh, Pedro Pascal, Edward Norton, Joaquin Phoenix, Ben Stiller, Kristen Stewart, Mark Ruffalo, Noah Wyle, Ramy Youssef, Rosario Dawson, Rosie O’Donnell, Ted Danson, Tiffany Haddish, Yorgos Lanthimos and Robert De Niro.
The Teamsters have asked the Justice Department to block Paramount’s deal with WBD unless Paramount agrees to “substantive and enforceable safeguards” against layoffs and commits to helping increase U.S. production.
Omeed Assefi, acting head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, said in March that approval of the Paramount-WBD deal would “absolutely be delayed” for political reasons, given the Ellison family’s friendly relationship with President Trump.
On Friday, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division announced that the eight-month “rigorous” investigation was “led by the department’s career staff” and produced more than 2 million documents from more than 80 parties. “The bureau’s mission is to investigate and, when appropriate, litigate proposed mergers that harm competition or American consumers,” the bureau said. “This investigation included a review of extensive documentary evidence, hours of deposition testimony from senior-level executives, interviews with third-party witnesses, and staff-led meetings with the parties themselves. All of these investigative efforts reached the same conclusion: The film and television industry is extremely dynamic, and the proposed transaction is unlikely to harm competition or the American consumer.”
“We appreciate the thorough review of this transaction by the Department of Justice and the efforts of the other agencies that have previously completed their reviews and granted approvals,” Paramount Skydance said in a statement Friday. “In defined industries, stronger companies will be better positioned to compete with dominant technology platforms. We remain focused on closing the transaction as quickly as possible and delivering its benefits to consumers, creators, and the entertainment industry.” Whole. ”
Paramount still faces other potential obstacles to striking a deal with WBD. State attorneys general, including California’s Rob Bonta, have said they may pursue a lawsuit seeking to block the merger between Paramount and WBD on antitrust grounds.
Regarding the Justice Department’s approval of the deal, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a statement: “This is terrible news for all Americans who don’t want a pro-Trump billionaire controlling what they watch and how much they pay. The Paramount-Warner Bros. deal reeks of corruption and influence peddling. This fight is not over. State agencies must stop this merger.”
Meanwhile, Paramount’s proposed WBD deal is undergoing regulatory review in Europe and the UK.
The European Commission is investigating the deal under EU foreign subsidies rules, noting that around $24 billion was paid in acquisition funds by sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. The EU has set an interim deadline of July 14 to review the deal under the law, according to a notice posted on the regulator’s website. This is in addition to an investigation under standard merger rules, which is due by July 7.
On Tuesday (June 9), the UK competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, announced that it had begun an investigation into the proposed Paramount-WBD deal.
Warren is among the U.S. Democrats who have called on the Trump administration to review the foreign investments behind the Paramount-WBD deal, including calling on the FCC and Treasury Department to initiate such reviews. But so far, there is no indication that U.S. government agencies will do so.
Makan Delrahim, Paramount’s chief legal officer, claimed in an exchange with the Justice Department that Netflix had strongly lobbied regulators against Paramount’s WBD deal. Netflix had a deal to buy Warner Bros.’ streaming and studio businesses in December 2025, but withdrew its bid in February after Paramount raised its offer to acquire all of WBD. “Netflix’s panic-level response and scorched-earth campaign to poison regulators and other stakeholders in opposition to the transaction demonstrate how seriously Netflix takes Paramount as a large-scale competitor,” Delrahim wrote in a June 5 letter to officials in the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
Regarding Delrahim’s comments, a Netflix spokesperson said: “These claims by Paramount Skydance are ridiculous. We exited this transaction several months ago and remain focused on our business, not theirs. Ultimately, it is up to regulators to approve this transaction and determine whether it is in the best interest of the industry and all involved.”
Separately, Delrahim said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times last week, “There’s a lot of fear-mongering, especially from people in Washington, D.C., who are running political campaigns. Some of these people are really trying to jeopardize this deal because of their own anti-Semitic views.” Delahim did not identify opponents of the Paramount-WBD merger who allegedly hold “anti-Semitic views.”
