Jane Fonda is speaking out against Paramount Skydance’s massive $111 billion bid to take control of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN.
“I have a personal stake in CNN,” said Fonda, who was once married to late CNN founder Ted Turner, at a First Amendment-themed event in New York City on Sunday. “I don’t want to see it go that way. You know what I’m saying?” she said.
Moments earlier, Fonda had urged the crowd to sign a petition calling on state attorneys general to investigate and block the proposed merger, a move that opponents warn could lead to a Trump-friendly shift in CNN’s coverage akin to recent changes they’ve slammed at CBS News under Paramount.
The petition was backed by 1,000 people in the film and television industry, per the Writers Guild of America West.
“This is a direct attack on free speech, freedom of expression,” she said of Paramount’s bid to take control of the network. “You’re going to have to pay more if this merger comes through, and you’re going to get a very thinned-out kind of culture. It’ll be flattened. Freedom of expression, independence and diverse news,” she added.
Fonda’s remarks arrive just days after the Justice Department approved the big bid from Paramount, which is led by Donald Trump-aligned CEO David Ellison. The deal could still be hit with legal challenges, with California AG Rob Bonta (D) stressing that the proposed merger remains under investigation by the California Department of Justice.
Ellison has reportedly told investors that the company is looking to close the deal by September (officials in the United Kingdom and the European Union are reportedly still reviewing the proposed merger). Paramount has been under scrutiny for canceling “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” a decision critics suspect was a result of political pressure despite the company’s insistence that it was “purely” due to financial reasons.
On Sunday, Fonda spoke out against the merger during “Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert For The First Amendment,” an event presented by the Committee For The First Amendment in which she joined other stars such as Julia Roberts, Robert De Niro and Bette Midler. The event served as a sort of counter-programming to President Donald Trump’s UFC birthday brawl at the White House, which aired on Paramount’s streaming service.
