Published on Apr 13, 2026
This article has been updated to include Booker’s invitation to Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison to appear at the hearing.
Senator Cory Booker, a critic of Paramount Skydance’s (PSKY) proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), has scheduled a hearing tomorrow on the $81 billion deal’s impact on labor and other parts of the entertainment industry, sources familiar with the matter said.
Two witnesses expected to testify at Booker’s event at 3 p.m. are Michael Isaac, director of legal services for the Writers Guild of America East, and Katie Phang, a plaintiff attorney, legal analyst and former MSNBC anchor, the sources said. A person with direct knowledge said also testifying will be Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, co-founder and executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund and steering committee member of Committee for the First Amendment.
Booker (D-NJ), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, said that Issac, Phang and Verheyden-Hilliard would testify Wednesday, according to a press release. He also said David Borenstein, whose film “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” won the 2026 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, is set to testify.
Additionally, Booker sent a letter today to Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison inviting him to testify, according to a copy obtained by The Capitol Forum.
“I write to renew my invitation for you to appear and address the significant concerns that have been raised about this transaction,” Booker said in the letter.
He invited the entire Judiciary Committee membership as well as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a Booker aide said.
The hearing comes after more than 1,000 actors, producers and film professionals wrote an open letter expressing their opposition to the merger, stating that it would further consolidate a constricted media landscape and reduce competition in the film industry.
The subcommittee’s top Democrat has called for Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), the panel’s chairman, to hold a hearing on the transaction. But Lee has declined to do so and was much more focused Netflix’s (NFLX) rival bid for Warner Bros.—a deal the Republican said raised “red flags.” He held one hearing on the Netflix/Warner Bros. transaction and was preparing another in March when the streaming service giant abandoned its deal.
That didn’t stop Booker from trying to switch the subcommittee’s focus more to the Paramount bid. Booker had Ellison to testify at the February hearing on the Netflix/Warner Bros. deal after the two met in person. Although Ellison declined to testify at the committee’s February 3 hearing, he said in a written statement to the subcommittee that unlike the Netflix bid, Paramount’s offer would be “pro-competitive and beneficial for consumers.”
The Democratic senator, who has called for congressional oversight of the merger, has raised concerns about thousands of potential job losses resulting from Paramount taking over Warner Bros.
The senator said in a February 27 statement that he’s working on legislation to authorize DOJ and the FTC to “investigate and unwind any merger consummated under this Administration that is anticompetitive, harms consumers, or puts Americans out of work.”
Responding to the open letter from film professionals, Paramount said in a statement today, “We hear and understand the concerns that some in our creative community have raised and respect the commitment to protecting and expanding creativity.”
But Paramount said its buyout of Warner Bros. would “create a company that can greenlight more projects, back bold ideas, support talent across multiple stages of their careers, and bring stories to audiences at a truly global scale—while strengthening competition by ensuring multiple scaled players are investing in creative talent.”
The company in the statement repeated its pledge to release a minimum of 30 films a year.
Lee and Warner Bros. declined to comment. Paramount didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the hearing or to the letter inviting Ellison to testify at the Wednesday hearing.
Isaac, Phang and Verheyden-Hilliard didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Writers Guild East and West chapters, which represent screenwriters, have condemned the Paramount deal in a joint statement, saying it would eliminate a key employer: “The loss of competition would be a disaster for writers, consumers and the entire entertainment industry. This merger must be blocked.”
Phang, a Korean-American, has accused MSNBC, whose name has changed to MS NOW, of firing her under pressure from the Trump administration, which has criticized mainstream media for its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring policies and “woke” commentary. Phang has called out the president and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr for trying to curb media dissent.
