Mark Ruffalo Says Hollywood Stars Declined to Sign Open Letter Against Paramount-WB Merger ‘Because They’re Afraid’ the Studio Will Blacklist Them

Mark Ruffalo revealed in a new op-ed for The New York Times co-written with American Economic Liberties Project research director Matt Stoller that many Hollywood stars declined to sign the recent open letter that’s fighting to block the Paramount–Warner Bros. merger.

“The most revealing thing about that letter wasn’t the people who signed. It was the people who didn’t. Not because they disagreed — because they were afraid,” Ruffalo and Stoller write. “There are many reasons to block this deal, but we now believe the most fundamental one is what we encountered when asking artists to use their voices: fear. A deep, ugly and pervasive fear of speaking out.”

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The open letter started circulating in April and has since amassed more than 4,000 signatures from Hollywood talent, including high-profile actors such as Florence Pugh, Pedro Pascal and Edward Norton and acclaimed directors like Yorgos Lanthimos, Sofia Coppola and Denis Villeneuve.

“We heard time and time again from artists, when asked to sign this letter, that they supported it but were afraid of retribution. Their fear is not unjustified,” Ruffalo’s op-ed adds, citing two recent examples of blacklisting that occurred in relation to the Paramount-WB merger.

“When the editorial director of The Ankler, one of the last independent trade magazines, who also founded the publication and serves as one of its columnists, was seen at an event carrying a bag of ‘Block the Merger’ buttons, Paramount reportedly pulled its advertising in response,” Ruffalo and Stoller note. “One of us, Mr. Ruffalo, was suggested as a guest for a CNN discussion of the merger, but a producer later said that the network had decided to pass on the segment, and reportedly told the organizers behind the letter, ‘It’s a delicate subject for us at CNN given Warner Bros. Discovery is our parent company, and there are legal considerations around what we can and cannot cover or say while the merger is ongoing.'”

The op-end sates: “This merger will cause many harms in Hollywood, but one is already in effect: People are afraid to say what they think about their own industry.”

Among the 4,000-plus names who signed the open letter are 75 Oscar winners. The group is hoping to sustain opposition to the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal, which is still pending approval by regulators in the U.S. and Europe — and could be subject to litigation seeking to stop the merger by state attorneys general.

“As filmmakers, documentarians and professionals across the movie and television industry, we write to express our unequivocal opposition to the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger,” the letter at BlockTheMerger.com states in part. “This transaction would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries — and the audiences we serve — can least afford it. The result will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world. Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major U.S. film studios to just four.”

Ruffalo and Stoller concluded their op-ed by writing: “We’ve seen what happens when monopoly-leaning companies benefit from a fear that silences dissent. But our growing coalition is demonstrating that when we don’t get stuck on the sidelines, don’t bow down to inevitability and join together to fight, we can win. And who knows? If we can defeat the oligarchs trying to seize control of our TV shows and movies, maybe we can do it elsewhere, too.”

Head over to The New York Times’ website to read the op-ed in its entirety.