Democratic lawmakers want to know what Trump officials told the Netflix boss about the WBD deal
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and two other Democratic lawmakers demanded more information Monday about what Trump administration officials discussed with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos before the streaming giant pulled out of the Warner Bros. bidding war. Discovery.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Warren and her co-signatories expressed concern that Trump administration officials “used closed-door meetings” with Sarandos last week to “discourage Netflix’s bid for Paramount Skydance … to take over Warner Bros.”
The letter was jointly signed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-Calif. The White House, the Justice Department and Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Paramount Skydance has signed a merger agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery on Friday, a day after Netflix announced it would not expand its WBD studio offering and streaming assets. Paramount Skydance is led by David Ellison, the son of Oracle mogul Larry Ellison, a close ally of President Donald Trump.
“Your conversations with Mr. Sarandos taint the Warner Bros. bidding process by raising allegations that the Trump administration’s DOJ is making merger review decisions based on political preference rather than law or facts,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter, which was shared with NBC News.
Netflix drops bidding war after Sarandos meetings in Washington. In a statement, Sarandos and fellow CEO Greg Peters said they believed the price needed to match Paramount Skydance’s bid was “financially unattractive,” adding that “this acquisition has always been a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”
In an interview with Bloomberg published Sunday, Sarandos was asked what the Justice Department and Trump told him about Netflix’s desire to acquire WBD. In response, Sarandos said: “I don’t know that there was growing political resistance.”
“It was a growing history of political resistance. But we were on a normal regulatory path. I was in DC on Thursday for a scheduled meeting with the DOJ from a few weeks ago to address some questions about the deal. It was a very productive meeting, nothing out of the ordinary,” Sarandos said. “Nothing has changed or changed much that took me to DC”
Warren, Blumenthal and Liccardo are still seeking clarification on what Sarandos discussed with Trump administration officials on Thursday. (A Democratic representative does not have the power to sue because his party does not have a majority in the US Senate.)
“The American people should know what Mr. Sarandos wanted from your meetings, what you said to him, and how your discussions could affect Netflix’s funding of a bidding war pending an Antitrust Division investigation,” the lawmakers wrote in a five-page letter.
NBC News previously reported that Sarandos met with White House staff, but not Trump. The New York Post reported that Sarandos met with Justice Department officials in Bondi, Wiles and antitrust to “try to convince executives not to challenge the deal on antitrust grounds.” NBC News did not confirm that report.
Trump recently told NBC News’ Tom Llamas that he would withdraw from the antitrust investigation into the WBD purchase, but has previously indicated repeatedly that he would be personally involved. The president also praised the Ellison family.
“Larry Ellison is great and his son David is great,” Trump told reporters in October. “They’re my friends. They’re my biggest fans, and they’re going to do what’s right.”
David Ellison, speaking on an investor call Monday morning, said Paramount Skydance believes there are “no legal obstacles” to closing the WBD merger in the US.
Ellison’s Skydance Media acquired Paramount Global last year for $8 billion.
Sarandos and Ellison both visited Washington as their companies followed WBD. Sarandos testified before a Senate Judiciary Committee impeachment panel in February, and Ellison attended last week’s State of the Union address as a guest of Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., according to the photo on X.
Netflix’s bid for WBD did not include the company’s cable assets, such as CNN, and Paramount Skydance is set to acquire the entire company.
If approved, the Paramount-WBD merger would combine Hollywood’s storied film studios and include a distribution library of intellectual property ranging from “The Godfather” and SpongeBob SquarePants (Paramount) to “Casablanca” and Batman (WBD).
