> Ruffalo, who is among the 2,000-plus Hollywood signatories of an open letter seeking to block the deal, spoke Wednesday via videoconference at a hearing called by Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. Booker noted that none of his Republican Senate colleagues were in attendance.
> “We do not have to watch ‘Citizen Kane’ or read ‘1984’ to understand that the concentrated oligarchic control this merger represents is a threat to free press, an informed populace and democracy itself,” Ruffalo said.
> Ruffalo cited claims by Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison that the combined company will release 30 films per year and give artists “more avenues” of work. Ruffalo commented: “Don’t trust empty promises from billionaires driven by greed and corrosive ideology. Don’t trust that somehow this new company will somehow make more films with less money and so much more debt.”
> “The merger threatens more than our livelihoods,” Ruffalo said. “It threatens one of the world’s most vital industries.” The pending merger comes “at the worst possible moment” for the industry, the actor and producer said, citing a sharp decline in L.A. entertainment jobs in recent years. “I can personally say that Los Angeles right now is hanging by a thread.”
ImitatingADog on
Hell yeah. I’ve never rooted harder for something to fail than this deal.
somekindofdruiddude on
Of course, this is coming from a millionaire.
For the record, I’m a thousandaire.
TeslasAndComicbooks on
It won’t change anything. There’s no precedent to block it after every other major studio consolidation was approved.
4 Comments
> Ruffalo, who is among the 2,000-plus Hollywood signatories of an open letter seeking to block the deal, spoke Wednesday via videoconference at a hearing called by Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. Booker noted that none of his Republican Senate colleagues were in attendance.
> “We do not have to watch ‘Citizen Kane’ or read ‘1984’ to understand that the concentrated oligarchic control this merger represents is a threat to free press, an informed populace and democracy itself,” Ruffalo said.
> Ruffalo cited claims by Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison that the combined company will release 30 films per year and give artists “more avenues” of work. Ruffalo commented: “Don’t trust empty promises from billionaires driven by greed and corrosive ideology. Don’t trust that somehow this new company will somehow make more films with less money and so much more debt.”
> “The merger threatens more than our livelihoods,” Ruffalo said. “It threatens one of the world’s most vital industries.” The pending merger comes “at the worst possible moment” for the industry, the actor and producer said, citing a sharp decline in L.A. entertainment jobs in recent years. “I can personally say that Los Angeles right now is hanging by a thread.”
Hell yeah. I’ve never rooted harder for something to fail than this deal.
Of course, this is coming from a millionaire.
For the record, I’m a thousandaire.
It won’t change anything. There’s no precedent to block it after every other major studio consolidation was approved.