Amid intense opposition from within the entertainment industry regarding Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the California-based company’s Chief Legal Officer has come out to hit back at all the doubters. Makan Delrahim, who previously served in the Justice Department during Donald Trump’s first term, has slammed critics of the multi-billion-dollar merger deal, going as far as to accuse some of the opposers of antisemitism.
Makan Delrahim says critics of Paramount-WBD deal have ‘antisemitic views’
During a recent interview, the veteran attorney noted that several fear-mongers are attempting to jeopardize the deal with Warner Bros. Discovery due to their “antisemitic views.”
“There’s a lot of fear-mongering, particularly from people in Washington, D.C. They are running a political campaign,” Makan Delrahim remarked to the Los Angeles Times. “Some of these people are trying to inflict harm on this transaction, really, because of their own antisemitic views. Regulators and law enforcement officials will see right through that.”
Delrahim then tried to debunk the notion that Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery could lead to diminished work opportunities. He argued, “Once you look at it, it’s incredibly pro-competitive. It increases output, it increases jobs, and it lowers the cost to the consumers. If you actually try to block this deal, you’re going to harm consumers, you’re going to harm creative talent, because you’re going to harm the creative ecosystem.”
Moreover, when asked about the politics associated with the merger, Makan Delrahim responded, “Politics is part of life. It’s part of the beautiful process of democracy. Generally, we are very empathetic to the folks in Hollywood, but this transaction will actually create more, better, and exciting jobs. David [Ellison] is an absolute lover of films; he’s a filmmaker himself. For the first time, you are getting an owner who comes from the creative side.”
Meanwhile, Paramount is currently in the definitive stages of finalizing its $111-billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, having beaten previous frontrunners Netflix to the deal.
