Mark Ruffalo Slams Approved ParaBros Merger: “Bad Deal For This Country”

Mark Ruffalo has been one of the fiercest critics of the $111 billion Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery merger and after the deal became a reality today, the man who plays the Incredible Hulk in the MCU came out swinging. “This merger will stifle creativity, weaken free speech, and cost people their jobs — it is a bad deal for this country and should never have been approved,” the two-time Emmy winner and HBO regular said today after U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín signed off on the antitrust settlement between te David Ellison run company and a dozen state Attorneys General. “This is an incredibly disappointing outcome for the hundreds of thousands of us who stood up to block it, but it’s also not the end.” Watch on Deadline In a post, retweeting Deadline’s story on the approval,” Ruffalo added: “This grassroots movement isn’t going to fade away and neither is our resolve. This was never about just one merger: this was about fighting back against corrupt oligarch billionaires trampling the interests of everyday people to line their own pockets. We’re still in that fight. Join us.” This merger will stifle creativity, weaken free speech, and cost people their jobs — it is a bad deal for this country and should never have been approved. This is an incredibly disappointing outcome for the hundreds of thousands of us who stood up to block it, but it's also not…— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) September 30, 2026 A close ally of Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) in rallying against the melding of the two historic Hollywood companies, and a very public advocate that California AG Rob Bonta “not cave” on the antitrust front, Ruffalo has also faced accusations of antisemitism for his critical remarks about weapons the Larry Ellison-founded Oracle provided to the Israeli military. A Paramount spokesperson late last month said of the Task star they are “troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute.” Lamenting the deal giving “one family control over CNN, HBO and Warner Bros., backed in part by foreign money whose influence on editorial decisions has never been fully explained to the public,” as Ruffalo did on August 22, the actor also called out the Ellisons’ close friendship with Donald Trump. Ruffalo and outgoing California Gov, Gavin Newsom are known to have had words about the merger at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, where the actor was a nominee, on September 14. A week later, after several days of behind closed door talks between Bonta’s team and Para and WBD execs, a settlement was announced. Bemoaned by many as lacking all conviction, while being full of passionate intensity, to paraphrase William Butler Yeats, the agreement secured few concessions from the Ellisons that they had clearly been offering even before the much anticipated antitrust suit was filed on July 13. MORE