Protesters were seen rallying outside Paramount CEO David Ellison’s dinner with President Trump at the Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. on Thursday evening.
The protests were led across the street on the National Mall by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), where roughly “two dozen other merger opponents held a rally opposing the transaction, casting it as an example of Trump administration corruption,” per Deadline.
Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, called the event an “oligarch’s dinner,” while some of the signs were emblazoned with messages like “I C B S” and “Stop the Monopoly of the News.” An inflatable Trump also held a sign that read, “Ellison’s my boy.”
Norm Eisen, co-founder of Democracy Defenders Action, said the event “resembles the First Amendment in the same way that a book burning is a celebration of the written word.”
“The demonstration was organized by groups including Free Press — the public interest group, not the Bari Weiss-founded publication –and Public Citizen. Other speakers include former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, Free Press’ Craig Aaron and Rep. Rebecca Balint (D-VT),” continued Deadline.
“In a blatant conflict of interest, Ellison is waiting for regulatory approval in his pursuit of a $110 billion deal for Paramount to purchase Warner Bros,” the press release said.
“The deal would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, narrowing the diversity of TV news and reducing the number of major U.S. film studios to just four,” it continued. “If approved, this merger would give one family control over CBS, CNN and TikTok — and the Ellisons have already promised President Trump that they would make sweeping changes to CNN. It would slash jobs, diminish opportunities for creators, and reduce choice for audiences in the United States and around the world.”
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