Mark Ruffalo and Matt Stoller Urge Artists to Oppose Paramount-WBD Merger in NYT Op-Ed

Academy Award–nominated actor Mark Ruffalo and Matt Stoller, research director of the American Economic Liberties Project, have co-authored a New York Times op-ed opposing the proposed merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.

In the opinion piece, published on Thursday, the two argue that the deal can be stopped if artists overcome their fear of professional consequences and publicly speak out against it.

“There are many reasons to block this deal, but we now believe the most fundamental one is what we encountered when asking artists to use their voices: fear. A deep, ugly and pervasive fear of speaking out.”

A spokesperson for Paramount did not respond to a request for comment.

The authors wrote that during their efforts to recruit thousands of signatories for their “block the merger” open letter opposing the deal, they found widespread fear of professional retribution. They cited examples such as TheWrap’s report on Paramount temporarily pulling advertisements from The Ankler after its editorial director and columnist Rich Rushfield wore “block the merger” buttons. They also referenced a Semafor report claiming CNN recently declined to host Ruffalo as a guest due to concerns about covering the planned acquisition of its parent company.

“This merger will cause many harms in Hollywood, but one is already in effect: People are afraid to say what they think about their own industry.”

To counter this fear, Ruffalo and Stoller emphasized the power of collective action.

“When over 4,000 artists are willing to sign a letter encouraging state attorneys general to block the merger — and more are signing every day — that matters,” they wrote. “When elected leaders, from California Attorney General Rob Bonta to Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York, start speaking out, holding hearings and starting investigations, that matters, too.”

The authors pointed to recent legal setbacks faced by media and tech companies, including a federal judge’s injunction blocking Nexstar’s merger with Tegna and a jury’s ruling against Meta and Google in a landmark social media trial regarding youth addiction.

“The oligarchs are still in charge. But they are starting to lose their grip on power. We’ve seen what happens when monopoly-leaning companies benefit from a fear that silences dissent. But our growing coalition is demonstrating that when we don’t get stuck on the sidelines, don’t bow down to inevitability and join together to fight, we can win.”