Writers Guild Warns of Billionaire Media Control as ‘Musk’ Documentary Faces Alleged Censorship Campaign

Skip to content “This unchecked concentration over our news and media threatens democratic discourse,” the union writes October 24, 2026 @ 1:11 PM "Musk" (Credit: Bleecker Street) The Writers Guild warned against billionaire media control as the new “Musk” documentary allegedly faced an “overt censorship campaign by tech platforms.” In a joint statement released Saturday, the Writers Guild of America East and Writers Guild of America West spoke out in defense of members Alex Gibney and Michael J. Palmer’s new documentary, praising the project as “an in-depth examination of Elon Musk based on his own words and firsthand accounts of his actions.” However, the WGA claimed the documentary faced censorship hurdles from tech platforms, given it was restricted from advertising on social media, including TikTok.“Over the last several weeks, ‘MUSK’ has been subject to an overt censorship campaign by tech platforms,” the statement noted. “Every major social media platform initially prohibited or restricted advertisements for the film. TikTok notified the film’s theatrical distributer, Bleecker Street, that advertising for the film was ‘permanently banned’ the week prior to the film’s release and only rescinded the ban after its opening weekend.” The statement continued: “TikTok is controlled in the U.S. by Larry Ellison, who provided significant financial backing for his son David Ellison’s combination of Paramount-Warner Bros into Skydance Media, which owns HBO Max and holds the broadcast and streaming rights to ‘MUSK.’ This week, Elon Musk announced he was invested nearly $1 billion in Skydance.” As the WGA went on, they highlighted that “a small handful of billionaires now own virtually every major media company, news outlet and social media platform,” a concern first expressed when the union sought legal action against the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. Per the guild, this reality is now “demonstrating how this unchecked concentration over our news and media threatens democratic discourse.”“We stand with our members, and we continue to call on policymakers, elected leaders and federal and state regulators to enforce our antitrust laws, which were designed to prevent this malignant concentration and control,” the statement concluded. You can read the full statement above. A representative for Skydance did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.