In the wake of the intensifying global contest over the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery consolidation, some of the industry’s most distinguished artistic talents have made their way into the regulatory fray. Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming and Benedict Wong are among those who have put pen to paper for a forceful op-ed in The Guardian, imploring the U.K. government to put an end to the would-be mega-merger.
The three actors have taken their case to Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, asking her to make use of the statutory authority granted by the Enterprise Act 2002. It is an appeal that follows on from Nandy’s own words in Parliament, where she intimated she was “minded to intervene” in order to protect the public interest and media plurality here in the U.K.
What gives the performers’ position its weight is the sheer size of the deal. The proposed buyout is leverage-backed and would saddle the new media entity with some $84 billion in debt. To cover these obligations, company executives have put forward billions in cost-cutting “synergies” for investors – a prospect that has critics on this side of the Atlantic and the other worrying about the impact on production budgets and the creative jobs that will be lost.
But for the signatories, there is more at stake than the economic well-being of British talent and crews. They see the deal as a direct threat to independent newsrooms and media access.
“With one owner holding sway over this much of the truth and the news, you have a danger to the public that is not present in your run-of-the-mill consolidation,” they write. “A story one owner deems inconvenient can still find its audience under another.”
Under the merger, assets like CNN International and Channel 5 would come under one corporate roof, which is enough to set off alarm bells when it comes to editorial independence and cultural diversity.
Such intervention from Britain’s cultural elite comes at a time when the $110 billion-plus transaction is coming under legal fire. In the U.S., state attorneys general have managed to get a judge to put the matter on hold, despite federal regulators giving the green light. The European Commission has given its conditional approval, so it is up to regional bodies such as the CMA and the DCMS to stand as a line of defense.
Only time will tell if the U.K. government will block the deal or proceed with a Phase 2 review. Yet by making the risks to the British creative ecosystem so clear, top-tier talent is ensuring the political price of the merger only goes up.
When Talent Becomes Advocacy
It is no small thing when marquee names from Hollywood break from their usual promotional rounds to raise concerns over corporate overreach. There is a palpable anxiety in the industry that goes beyond the shuffling of assets in boardrooms; it is a matter of preserving the independent character of European and British screen culture from being subsumed by a monolithic drive for efficiency.