{"id":2194,"date":"2026-06-16T13:42:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T13:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=2194"},"modified":"2026-06-16T13:42:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T13:42:47","slug":"paramount-refused-to-air-an-ad-criticizing-its-merger-with-warner-bros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=2194","title":{"rendered":"Paramount Refused to Air an Ad Criticizing Its Merger With Warner Bros."},"content":{"rendered":"


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Viewers who tuned<\/span> into the Paramount+ livestream of UFC Freedom 250<\/a> on Sunday night, held to mark President Trump\u2019<\/a>s 80th birthday as well as the nation\u2019s semiquincentennial, were treated to the surreal spectacle of mixed martial artists beating each other bloody in a massive cage installed on the White House<\/a> lawn. But there was one bruising blow they missed: an advertisement blasting the $111 billion merger agreement<\/a> between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because Paramount refused to air the ad, according to Freedom of the Press Foundation, the nonprofit advocacy group that submitted it to run during the event.<\/p>\n

The rejected 30-second spot<\/a> features Trump calling journalists \u201cthe enemy of the people\u201d and suggested that Trump-allied Paramount chairman and CEO David Ellison could force CNN, the flagship Warner Bros. news network, to soften its reporting on the president and his administration.<\/p>\n

The ad highlighted a New York Times story from April about Ellison throwing a private party<\/a> in Trump\u2019s honor as Paramount awaited approval of its proposed takeover, which the Justice Department cleared on Friday<\/a>. It also quoted Scott Pelley, the correspondent recently fired from 60 Minutes<\/em> amid a backlash to changes at Paramount-owned CBS News that were overseen by Ellison and network editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. Pelley alleged<\/a> that new executive leadership wanted him \u201cto inject falsehoods and bias\u201d into his reporting in an effort to \u201ccurry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FPF ad warns that if the Paramount-WBD deal goes ahead, CNN journalists could soon face a similar corporate mandate<\/a>, noting Trump\u2019s support for the acquisition and a comment<\/a> from defense secretary Pete Hegseth in March: \u201cThe sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.\u201d (Ellison\u2019s father, Larry Ellison, billionaire founder of the software company Oracle, also supports Trump and has played a key role in establishing the family\u2019s media empire, including their majority stake in Paramount.)<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s stop Trump\u2019s censorship and block this merger,\u201d the ad\u2019s voiceover concludes. A link onscreen directed to a FPF web page<\/a> for sending letters to congressional representatives demanding an investigation into \u201cTrump-Paramount corruption.\u201d (Disclosure: WIRED global editorial director Katie Drummond is on the FPF board of directors.)<\/p>\n

\u201cEllison won\u2019t air criticism of himself, his company, or his buddy Trump,\u201d said Seth Stern, FPF chief of advocacy, in a statement about the rejected ad. \u201cThese antics are bad for press freedom, bad for the public, and bad for Paramount\u2014just look at CBS\u2019s recent struggles under Ellison\u2019s watch,\u201d he continued, alluding to ongoing turmoil at the network since the Ellisons\u2019 Skydance Media closed its acquisition of Paramount last August. \u201cBillionaires who don\u2019t respect the First Amendment should stay out of the news business.\u201d<\/p>\n

FPF alleges that Paramount declined to air the ad due to a conflict of interest. Stern dismissed that rationale as hypocritical given the close ties between the media giant, the Ellisons, and Trump, saying that Paramount \u201capparently sees no conflict of interest in promising the Trump administration editorial concessions in exchange for merger approvals, in throwing fancy dinner parties honoring Trump while he attacks CBS and CNN journalists, or in airing a UFC event which functioned as an hours-long commercial for Donald Trump and Truth Social.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither the White House nor Paramount replied to a request for comment. CNN declined to comment on the matter.<\/p>\n

David Ellison\u2019s appearance alongside Trump<\/a> at Sunday\u2019s UFC event (Paramount secured exclusive broadcast rights for the sport in a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal<\/a> last year) had the air of a victory lap. But state attorneys general can still sue<\/a> to block Paramount\u2019s blockbuster acquisition of Warner Bros., and officials in California, New York, and other states are reportedly preparing to do just that<\/a>. Even if this merely forestalls the deal close by several months, that delay may last through a crucial midterm election cycle\u2014a time when Trump and his loyalists will need all the positive press they can get.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Viewers who tuned into the Paramount+ livestream of UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday night, held to mark President Trump\u2019s 80th birthday as well as the nation\u2019s semiquincentennial, were treated to the surreal spectacle of mixed martial artists beating each other bloody in a massive cage installed on the White House lawn. But there was one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[130,483,463,46,75,186,573],"class_list":["post-2194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-donald-trump","tag-journalism","tag-media","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-television","tag-white-house"],"yoast_head":"\nParamount Refused to Air an Ad Criticizing Its Merger With Warner Bros. - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The commercial was submitted by the Freedom of the Press Foundation to run during Donald Trump\u2019s UFC event. 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