Jane Fonda slams Paramount-WBD merger, warns CNN will 'have to cave' to Trump
Actress Jane Fonda protested the Paramount merger at an Oscars after-party, warning about the Trump administration's potential political influence over CNN.
Actress Jane Fonda protested a merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), CNN's parent company, during an Oscars after-party Sunday night.
Variety spoke to Fonda about her "Block the Merger" pin, which she wore to the major Hollywood event to call out Paramount's bid for the company. She emphasized that the merger could give the Trump administration some influence over CNN as WBD tries to move forward with the deal.
"The mergers are going to be bad for workers," Fonda said. "A lot of people are going to lose their jobs. We’re going to have higher prices. We’re going to have political control of what we do. That’s why [Secretary of War Pete] Hegseth said, ‘CNN can’t come soon enough’ to be under the control of Paramount. We know Trump wants to hurt…I mean, I slept with the guy who created it! I have a personal stake in it."
Fonda's comments were in reference to her 10-year marriage to CNN founder Ted Turner between 1991 and 2001. She emphasized that Turner created CNN to be "trusted" and "not take positions."
When asked, Fonda said that she has not spoken to Paramount CEO David Ellison or Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav about her issues. She remarked that she spoke to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos when his company offered to buy WBD last year, though it was largely because the two were friends.
Fonda added that she was against any merger but reiterated that a merger with Paramount would be "problematic" because of President Donald Trump.
JAKE TAPPER RUEFULLY REVEALS CNN WILL BE AFFECTED BY PARAMOUNT'S LOOMING TAKEOVER OF NETWORK
"This [pin] was any merger, but the Paramount merger is really problematic. In order to get the permission to do the merger, they felt they had to cave to what Trump wanted. But we’re going to win," Fonda said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Paramount Skydance and WBD for comment.
Fonda previously wrote an op-ed in The Ankler in December denouncing the sale of WBD to any company, claiming that it was a danger to free speech and the entertainment industry.
"The threat of this merger in any form is an alarming escalation in a consolidation crisis that threatens the entire entertainment industry, the public it serves, and — potentially — the First Amendment itself," she wrote, insisting that Trump "has used anticipated mergers as tools of political pressure and censorship."
In a comment to Fox News Digital, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said, "It’s been decades since anyone cared about what Hanoi Jane had to say about anything, and broadcasting that she, to quote her own words, ‘slept with the guy who created’ CNN isn’t changing that reality."
