Paramount has issued a strong response to actor Mark Ruffalo's accusations that the company is complicit in "genocide" and "apartheid" in relation to its proposed $110 billion merger with Warner Bros.
In a statement, Paramount said it was "troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute." The company characterized Ruffalo's use of terms like "genocide" and "apartheid" in the context of a corporate transaction as "a bridge too far, and they cheapen the very real suffering those words are meant to describe." Paramount emphasized that it does not tolerate prejudice of any kind and stated, "Words like 'genocide' and 'apartheid,' applied to a corporate transaction, aren't just wrong..."
The media conglomerate urged for a de-escalation, stating, "This doesn't deserve a response in kind... This is a moment to lower the temperature, not raise it, and we would rather build than further engage in such rhetoric." Paramount suggested that Ruffalo's remarks "simply exposes the true motivation of some who have advocated opposition to this transaction."
Ruffalo, an award-winning actor, had accused David Ellison's Paramount of "powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world" in an Instagram Stories post. He specifically criticized a video of Safra Catz, executive vice chair of Oracle, suggesting that Larry Ellison, David Ellison's father, was using Oracle to fund his son's acquisition of Warner Bros.
"Look how she revels in what we now have come to see as a genocide, which was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle," Ruffalo wrote, referencing Catz's remarks at an Israeli-American Council National Summit. In the clip, Catz discussed advancing "the agenda for the Israeli military" and "really profoundly scary technology at Oracle," making it available "for the effort" following the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
Ruffalo also labeled Larry Ellison a "classic oligarch" and called the proposed merger "catastrophic for our film industry," asserting that such mergers are "almost always bad for workers, consumers, and the industry they tend to dominate."
The merger is facing legal challenges, with 12 Attorneys General reportedly suing to stop it. A report by LA County indicated that the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger could lead to approximately 4,500 job losses in the county's film and television sector.
Paramount concluded its statement by saying it is committed "to every story, every storyteller, and no blacklists, no exceptions, for anyone." The company expressed hope that the merger "will be judged based on the legal merits, not underlying bias" and asked for "less rhetoric, more understanding."