Liberals are having a bad day today as Paramount has settled with the attorneys general of 12 blue states, which were trying to block the merger of Paramount with Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN and CBS News. Liberals are upset because they believe that Paramount CEO David Ellison, a Trump donor, is going to turn CNN into another Fox News.
It’s official: Paramount wins and will acquire all of Warner Bros. The 12 Democrat attorney generals essentially folded. CNN will have a new, much saner owner. Huge media loss for Democrats. Now they just have MSNBC.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 21, 2026
Actor and activist Mark Ruffalo has become the face of the opposition to the merger, issuing a statement in which he accused the Ellison family (David's father is Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle) of complicity in Palestinian genocide. Paramount pushed back with a statement accusing Ruffalo of using "antisemitic tropes" to derail the merger, to which Ruffalo posted that he has nothing but "deep love and respect" for the Jewish people.
Ruffalo laid the blame squarely on California Gov. Gavin Newsom:
Gavin Newsom hands huge win to Trump and his billionaire cronies. https://t.co/G7GCPHnbcz
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) September 21, 2026
In a lot of ways, you did this. pic.twitter.com/cTEQPHJ6T7
— Matt Whitlock (@MattWhitlock) September 21, 2026
Mark is the rich that make the poor suffer. His ideology will ruin millions of lives. Mark hates the poor and middle class all while working for and taking in millions from a billionaire company.
— Spirit (@1776_way) September 21, 2026
Mark is a hypocrite and a fraud.
Hey Mark, did you try singing imagine again. Let’s not give up hope already.
— Demon Slayer (@pxnkxjs) September 21, 2026
All it took was for Paramount to threaten to leave California, which it can do, and Newsom can't stop them. And all of a sudden, the lawsuit is gone. Paramount is smarter than Newsom.
— Hummingbirder 🏈🌰 (@Hummingbirder) September 21, 2026
Keep it up, Mark. You sound and look more and more like Bernie Sanders every day.
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TMZ reported that Ellison threatened to pull Paramount out of California and move it to Texas, Tennessee, or Georgia if California Atty. Gen. Bob Bonta didn't back off.
Also having a sad is Nick Field, who too blames Newsom for caving:
The State AGs were on pace to kill the Paramount/Warner Bros by litigation and delay until Gavin Newsom stepped in and turned the tide. Now the Trump loyalist Ellisons will control CNN and HBO. Don't ever, ever forget that Newsom stabbed us all in the backhttps://t.co/V9X6uhIWaT
— Nick Field (@nick_field90) September 21, 2026
LMAO now all the commies are turning on Sparkle Beach Ken Doll.
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) September 21, 2026
Bonta takes an L. Ruffalo takes an L. Newsom takes an L. Wow what a day. Manna from heaven https://t.co/ZkFYOlvoIM
I must be really hard to keep track of who they hate. Does someone keep a list?
— Man In The Middle with Rayme (@RaymonScannell) September 21, 2026
Mark Ruffalo is crying into his performative keffiyeh somewhere.
— Carl Carlson (@lightlennyl) September 21, 2026
Keep the hits coming .... pic.twitter.com/bZfTTYHiro
— Swifto1776 (@Mrvegas2345) September 21, 2026
As we reported last week, Reuters reported that one of the concessions Bonta sought was "independent content monitoring of CNN." Independent monitoring by whom? It looks like that was part of the deal:
Rob Bonta says the settlement "must establish a news editorial independence board to support CBS News' and CNN's continued editorial independence to ensure independent, objective, fact-based reporting at CBS News and at CNN."
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) September 21, 2026
Independent, objective, and fact-based reporting! Ha!
CNN senior media analyst Brian Stelter reposted a "striking" statement by Connecticut Atty. Gen. William Tong that reads, in part:
Connecticut led the fight to the bitter end to protect the editorial independence of CNN and CBS News. Especially after the President blocked CNN and other news organizations from the White House, this fight became immediate, critical and acute.
…
Connecticut wanted and demanded full divestiture of CNN and CBS News. We wanted to save ethical and independent journalism and news. We fought aggressively for that remedy. I am deeply disappointed that we could not do more.
It was never about a media monopoly or complicity in Palestinian "genocide." It was about keeping a Trump donor from owning CNN.
It's always great fun to see the Left eat their own, and Ruffalo's and other liberals' disappointment in Newsom is delicious.
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Editor’s Note: Hollywood, academia, and liberal elites are out of touch with the average American.
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