Actor Mark Ruffalo has escalated his fight against Paramount's proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
In a recent interview, the four-time Oscar nominee admitted that he assumes he is "already on a list" for urging state officials to block the deal using anti-trust laws.
"It's interesting because a lot of people, off the bat, were afraid," Ruffalo said, adding, "They're afraid because, to quote one prominent agent whose name I won't divulge here, these are some vindictive mot--rfu--ers, the Ellisons."
Ruffalo added that despite initial industry hesitation and fear of retaliation, momentum against the merger is rapidly growing.
According to the actor, the open letter opposing the deal has gained an additional 2,000 signatures in the past month, taking the total to nearly 5,000.
"What we know is that courage is contagious, and there's safety in numbers," he explained, adding, "A lot of the people on this letter are people who either can afford to be there, like myself, or people who can't afford to not be there. They're fighting for their lives," he said.
The actor also referenced the impact of previous media consolidations, including the Fox-Disney merger, claiming the industry lost jobs, film projects and television productions as a result.
Also read: Florence Pugh, Pedro Pascal rally to block Paramount-Warner deal
"The stakes are very, very high," Ruffalo said, adding, "They understand what happens when these mergers happen. The last one was Fox-Disney, and we lost so many jobs, we lost so many shows, we so many films that were in production or in pre-production or being developed, and we know the writing's on the wall."
Ruffalo further raised concerns about media ownership and editorial independence. "The merger means the Ellisons would own both CBS and CNN," Ruffalo said he fears "the degradation of journalism through political pressure.”
The actor pointed to CBS recently featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 60 Minutes, referring to Netanyahu as an "accused war criminal."
"He would have never been on 60 Minutes outside of this regime," Ruffalo said.
Addressing fears within Hollywood over publicly opposing the merger, Ruffalo acknowledged he also feels pressure but believes speaking out is necessary. "And I just want to speak to that fear thing, because I have fear. I'm not doing this because I'm fearless. I'm doing this because I know we have to," he said, adding, "I'm already on a list, I'm already not a friend of these people. And so, you're either going to fight or you're going to lay down."
The actor also called on Hollywood agencies and unions to take a stronger stance against the proposed deal. "I really hope they start to change their tune and see the writing on the wall here," Ruffalo said, adding, "Their clients are going to suffer more from sitting back and letting this happen than getting out and fighting next to us, the unions too."
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