Senator Cory Booker Slams Paramount CEO David Ellison’s ‘Frustrating’ Absence From Antitrust Hearing

Senator Cory Booker called out Paramount Skydance’s absence from an antitrust hearing looking into the impact of the $83 billion Netflix-Warner Bros. deal “frustrating.”

“I invited David Ellison, chair and CEO of Paramount Skydance, to appear today. Mr. Ellison declined stating that Paramount ‘does not believe it would be useful or helpful’ for them to participate as a witness because their offer had been rejected,” Booker said in his opening statement on Tuesday. “I do want to thank Mr. Ellison, though, for meeting with me and I know other senators in person to answer our questions. It was actually very fruitful conversation. It’s unfortunate it wasn’t in public.”

He warned that a Warner Bros. sale to Netflix or Paramount “would result in concerning consolidation of a portion of the economy that is already putting the squeeze on artists and consumers.”

Sen. Booker’s antitrust concerns were echoed by the ranking Republicans on the committee, Utah Sen. Mike Lee and and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.

“Consolidating two major employers in the same market inevitably have an impact on the competition for that labor,” Lee said, calling Warner’s potential sale “extraordinary in both in scale and potential consequence” and adding that with its increased market share, Netflix could “withhold marquee titles, it could raises licensing fees, it could favor its own content with recommendations on a platform of Netflix’s size and reach.”

More to come…

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