There’s a bidding war happening right now for Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes one of the oldest film studios, and it has major implications for Black talent in Hollywood.
Netflix made the initial bid, agreeing to purchase WBD’s studio and streaming assets for $83 billion. Then, countering Netflix, Paramount Skydance swooped in with an all-cash offer of $108.4 billion for the entire company, including its cable channels. Much hangs in the air across these massive bids for WBD, one of the largest streaming services in America. Either way, should either deal move past antitrust regulators, it would form an (illegal) quasi-monopoly in entertainment. There would be almost immediate ramifications for all.
“When one company dominates an industry and there’s less competition, a few things can happen: Your costs will probably go up. Your options for shows and movies will likely get worse, and union workers just might lose their jobs,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a mid-December YouTube video, explaining what the bid means for consumers.
If Paramount wins the bidding war, it will most likely gut any remaining diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within WBD. For context, Skydance Media bought Paramount early August. To complete the deal, Skydance Media aimed to win government approval by promising it would eliminate any and all DEI practices if the $8 billion merger was allowed to move forward. And it did. Mass layoffs followed, CBS News’ Race & Culture Unit was disbanded, and journalists of color were pushed out en masse.
Should Paramount buy out Warner Brothers, it’s fair for Black talent in Hollywood to expect a similar attack on DEI.
The Paramount deal would likely lead to more gatekeepers and fewer guardrails in Hollywood, especially when it comes to diversity based on gender and (especially) race. Budgets would likely shift away from culturally specific stories, with less investments going to Black-led shows, opting for safer and likely whiter bets. There may be less formal entry points and pathways for talent into the industry. Paramount also owns BET (Black Entertainment Television), and it’s unclear how the merger might affect the division.
Skydance Media’s 2025 buyout of Paramount set a worrisome precedent. By effectively saying “we will kill DEI,” the company was allowed to move forward with a contentious merger. This signals to other companies that they can promise to gut equity-based initiatives to get on the current administration’s “good side.” All of this is happening amid a time when the far-right efforts are attacking DEI and American values, while the Supreme Court has let ICE use racial profiling, and much more.
It’s important to remember that whatever happens with this deal, our attention and our talent are what’s paramount. We know the power of our Black dollar and the power of our attention. Should this deal move forward and these practices ensue, being a strategic consumer will be more important than ever. Should this deal move forward and these practices ensue, it’ll be more important than ever to lift as you climb.