Actor Mark Ruffalo has engaged in a public dispute with Paramount Skydance over the company’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a $111 billion transaction. Ruffalo’s criticism centered on the involvement of Larry Ellison, Oracle’s founder and father of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, who is providing significant financing for the deal.
Ruffalo pointed to Oracle’s long-standing provision of software and technology to Israeli government, defense, and security agencies as grounds for concern. He shared a video featuring Oracle executive vice-chair Safra Catz discussing technology supplied to Israel following the October 2023 Hamas attack, characterizing it as “really profoundly scary technology.” Ruffalo argued that merging these capabilities into a major media conglomerate posed risks and called the transaction “catastrophic” for the entertainment industry due to anticipated job losses and reduced market competition.
Paramount Skydance responded on Saturday with a statement expressing concern about what it characterized as invocation of “antisemitic tropes” in the dispute. The company contended that applying terms like “genocide” and “apartheid” to a business transaction was inappropriate and diminished the significance of those concepts. Ruffalo subsequently issued a written response asserting that criticism of Israeli military actions, technology contracts, or corporate executives involved in such arrangements does not constitute antisemitism or hostility toward Jewish people.
The merger has faced legal challenges on antitrust grounds from a coalition of 12 U.S. states, though the Department of Justice approved the transaction in June. The deal remains pending while federal court proceedings continue. If the merger does not close by September 30, Paramount Skydance faces daily fees of approximately $7 million owed to Warner Bros shareholders. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization, issued a statement supporting Paramount’s position regarding the dispute.
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