Overview
- On Saturday, Mark Ruffalo reposted a 2024 clip of Oracle executive Safra Catz describing “really profoundly scary technologies” provided to Israel and tied that footage to objections to the Ellison‑backed Warner Bros. deal.
- Paramount responded by accusing Ruffalo of invoking antisemitic tropes after he used terms such as “genocide” and “apartheid” to describe the technology's role, saying those words were a bridge too far.
- Ruffalo immediately rejected the accusation as “appalling and fundamentally dishonest,” saying his criticism targets corporate contracts, executives and the merger’s effects, not Jewish people.
- The proposed $110–$111 billion transaction remains legally paused while a coalition of 12 state attorneys general pursue an antitrust challenge and the companies agreed not to close until June 1, 2027 or a court ruling.
- Beyond the public dispute, critics warn the deal could concentrate control of CNN, HBO and Warner Bros., threaten editorial independence, and cost thousands of direct and related jobs, which has kept regulators and state officials focused on settlement talks and reviews.