Netflix has dismissed allegations that it tried to sabotage Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The accusation came in a letter Paramount’s top lawyer sent to US antitrust officials.
The streaming giant issued a curt rebuttal after Paramount Skydance’s Chief Legal Officer, Makan Delrahim, claimed Netflix was running a “panic-level response and scorched-earth campaign” to poison the $111 billion merger. A Netflix spokesperson called the claims “absurd.”
What Netflix said about Paramount’s ‘poison’ claim over the Warner Bros. deal
A Netflix spokesperson flatly rejected the characterization. “These claims from Paramount Skydance are absurd. We walked away from this deal months ago and remain focused on our own business, not theirs,” the spokesperson told Variety. “Ultimately, it’s up to the regulators to approve this deal and determine if it is in the best interest of the industry and all concerned.”
The blunt language reflects Netflix’s apparent frustration at being dragged into a regulatory fight it insists it left behind in February. That was when the company formally withdrew from a bidding contest for Warner assets, accepting a $2.8 billion breakup fee after the Warner board opted for Paramount’s richer, all-encompassing offer.
Delrahim’s letter did not detail any specific actions taken by Netflix. Instead, it painted the streamer as a nervous incumbent rattled by the emergence of a combined Paramount-Warner entity. His correspondence was also a response to a White Paper filed with the Department of Justice in March by the Teamsters union. The union argued the merger poses a threat to nearly 15,000 Motion Picture Teamsters. Paramount countered that its unionised workforce would grow, not shrink, if the deal proceeds.
Netflix, for its part, appears keen to distance itself from the entire affair. Its statement makes clear the company considers the regulatory decision a matter for officials, not a battle it intends to wage publicly. Whether regulators share that view remains to be seen.
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