NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Slams Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger: “Shameful Monument to Corruption”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani criticized the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger following Monday’s settlement, calling it a “shameful monument to corruption.”

“America is free only when the media is competitive, independent, and accountable to the people,” he wrote on X Tuesday afternoon. “This merger strikes a chilling blow against that freedom — and hands even more power to billionaires like David Ellison to decide what Americans see and hear, all while lifting scrutiny off the federal leaders who pushed it through.”

“This decision is a shameful monument to corruption and a betrayal that the American people won’t soon forget,” the mayor added.

It was revealed on Monday that 12 states, including California and New York, and the Writers Guild of America agreed to settle their antitrust lawsuits against Paramount Skydance, owned by Ellison, over its $111 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, paving the way for the mega merger that will vastly reshape Hollywood.

Among the deal terms, which were announced by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who led the state’s case, Paramount has committed to release a specific number of films per year, increase film production in the U.S., honor union agreements to protect workers and form a new editorial independence board “to establish guiding editorial and journalism principles” for the company’s news operations, CBS News and CNN.

In his post, Mamdani also expressed his appreciation to New York Attorney General Letitia James “for the protections she secured for workers.”

Mamdani’s criticisms came after The Hollywood Reporter reported that factions appeared to emerge within the 12 states’ alliance leading up to the settlement over whether to accept the deal. New York was among the holdouts, alongside Connecticut, Minnesota and Nevada.

After the deal was announced, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong expressed his concerns, saying the state “wanted and demanded full divestiture of CNN and CBS News. We wanted to save ethical and independent journalism and news. We fought aggressively for that remedy. I am deeply disappointed that we could not do more.”

However, James didn’t condemn the settlement, writing in her own statement, “Paramount’s commitments will allow the film and television industry to continue to thrive with more movies produced in America and $1.5 billion of new investment in film production. I have met with unions representing entertainment industry workers as our case progressed, and I will continue to closely monitor Paramount’s activities to ensure they are following this agreement and the law.”