Paramount shareholder sues Ellisons, alleging ‘illegal’ Trump deal

Technology Paramount shareholder sues Ellisons, alleging ‘illegal’ Trump deal Comments: by Dominick Mastrangelo - 07/16/26 9:55 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Dominick Mastrangelo - 07/16/26 9:55 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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A press freedom group has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop Paramount’s multi-billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, the media conglomerate that owns cable news channel CNN.

The suit, filed in Delaware on behalf of Paramount shareholder Paul Robbins, would stop “Paramount insiders from profiting through breaches of their fiduciary duties to the company by trading editorial independence for favoritism from the Trump administration,” the organization said.

“The media has widely reported that Lawrence and David Ellison promised illegal, private benefits to President Trump in exchange for approval of their last media mega-merger,” the suit reads. “In exchange, President Trump and the Trump-controlled Federal Communications Commission approved the deal with little to no oversight. The Ellisons also agreed to, and did, transform CBS to make its coverage far more favorable to the President, at the cost of the network’s ratings.”

Paramount’s deal to acquire Warner Bros. would create one of the largest media companies on earth and hand David Ellison — the son of Larry Ellison, a key ally of President Trump — control of its key assets.

The Ellisons have presided over sweeping changes at CBS News in recent months, including high profile firings of top “60 Minutes” correspondents and the implementation of controversial journalist Bari Wiess as the network’s top editor.

Trump has praised the Ellison’s efforts, and said he would like to see CNN, a network he frequently attacks, operate under new leadership.

The Paramount, Warner Bros. deal has sparked sharp pushback from Democrats on Capitol Hill and media watchdogs who argue it would consolidate media power around a close ally of the president.

Earlier this week, a dozen state attorney generals filed suit to stop the merger, which they argued violate antitrust law and could harm competition in the media business.

Paramount did not respond to a request for comment.