Paramount accuses Netflix of “scorched-earth campaign” against WBD merger

派拉蒙指责 Netflix 对其与华纳兄弟探索（WBD）的合并发起“焦土运动”

Paramount Skydance is accusing Netflix of maintaining a campaign against its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). In a June 5 letter (PDF) addressed to Jared A. Hughes, acting section chief of the Media, Entertainment, and Communications Section of the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Antitrust Division, and A. Maya Kahn, a trial attorney for the Antitrust Division, and first reported on by Politico today, Paramount chief legal officer Makan Delrahim accused Netflix of trying to influence stakeholders about the merger.

派拉蒙天空之舞（Paramount Skydance）指责 Netflix 持续针对其拟议收购华纳兄弟探索（WBD）的交易发起抵制运动。在 6 月 5 日致美国司法部反垄断部门媒体、娱乐与通信科代理科长 Jared A. Hughes 及该部门出庭律师 A. Maya Kahn 的信函中（Politico 今日首次报道），派拉蒙首席法务官 Makan Delrahim 指责 Netflix 试图影响利益相关者对该合并案的看法。

The letter reads: Indeed, Netflix’s panic-level response and scorched-earth campaign to try and poison regulators and other stakeholders against the Transaction shows just how seriously Netflix takes Paramount as a scaled competitor.

信中写道：“事实上，Netflix 这种恐慌级别的反应以及试图毒害监管机构和其他利益相关者以反对该交易的‘焦土运动’，恰恰表明了 Netflix 是多么认真地将派拉蒙视为一个规模化的竞争对手。”

The letter from Delrahim, a former assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division, is a response to a letter that The International Brotherhood of Teamsters sent to the DOJ in March. The teamsters’ letter argued that Paramount and WBD’s merger would threaten film and TV workers. The union, which has 1.3 million members, asked the DOJ to block the merger “unless substantial and enforceable safeguards are put in place to increase domestic production and protect jobs,” per an announcement from the group.

Delrahim 曾任反垄断部门助理司法部长，这封信是对国际卡车司机工会（International Brotherhood of Teamsters）今年 3 月致信司法部的回应。卡车司机工会在信中指出，派拉蒙与 WBD 的合并将威胁到影视从业者的利益。据该工会公告，这个拥有 130 万成员的组织要求司法部阻止此次合并，“除非采取实质性且可执行的保障措施，以增加国内制作并保护就业岗位”。

Paramount’s top lawyer, however, this month argued that the merger would “not reduce work opportunities for the Teamsters or other organized labor” and would lead Paramount to create more content, including movies and programming for its streaming services and broadcast TV channels. This will push competitors to follow suit, Delrahim claimed.

然而，派拉蒙的首席律师本月辩称，此次合并“不会减少卡车司机工会或其他有组织劳工的工作机会”，反而会促使派拉蒙创作更多内容，包括为其流媒体服务和广播电视频道制作电影及节目。Delrahim 声称，这将推动竞争对手效仿。

Delrahim said the merger would bring more opportunities for writers and directors, as well as actors, drivers, location scouts, casting directors, caterers, mechanics, and animal handlers. Paramount’s letter pointed to an increase in content production after Paramount merged with Skydance in 2025. Since then, Paramount has either purchased or renewed 20 shows and “will nearly double its theatrical output this year as compared to 2025,” Delrahim wrote. “More films and series in production means more call sheets, more location days, more transportation, casting, and catering work,” Delrahim wrote.

Delrahim 表示，合并将为编剧、导演，以及演员、司机、外景勘察员、选角导演、餐饮服务商、机械师和动物训练师带来更多机会。派拉蒙在信中指出，自 2025 年派拉蒙与天空之舞合并后，内容产量有所增加。Delrahim 写道，此后派拉蒙已购买或续订了 20 部剧集，并且“今年的院线产出将比 2025 年翻近一番”。他写道：“制作更多的电影和剧集意味着更多的通告单、更多的外景拍摄日，以及更多的交通、选角和餐饮工作需求。”

Notably, in a January SEC filing, Paramount said that it expects Paramount-WBD to spend less money on content as a combined company. Content spend would drop by less than 10 percent, and none of the spending reductions would come from “film/TV studios,” the filing said. Paramount CEO and chairman David Ellison has said that post-merger, Paramount would release at least 30 feature films annually, with each film being in theaters for at least 45 days. Ellison has been making this promise publicly since at least February.

值得注意的是，派拉蒙在 1 月份提交给美国证券交易委员会（SEC）的文件中曾表示，预计合并后的派拉蒙-WBD 在内容上的支出将会减少。文件称，内容支出将下降不到 10%，且削减的部分均不涉及“影视工作室”。派拉蒙首席执行官兼董事长 David Ellison 曾表示，合并后派拉蒙每年将发行至少 30 部长片，每部电影的院线放映期至少为 45 天。Ellison 至少从 2 月份开始就已公开做出这一承诺。

Paramount-WBD merger would lead to job losses

派拉蒙-WBD 合并可能导致裁员

Delrahim’s letter paints a rosy picture of jobs and content spend post-merger; however, Paramount has previously said that a merger with WBD would result in job losses as the merged company looks to save over $6 billion. Cost savings would primarily come from “duplicative operations across all aspects of the business — specifically back office, finance, corporate, legal, technology, infrastructure and real estate,” Paramount said in a January SEC filing. Notably, a merged Paramount and WBD would carry $79 billion in debt.

Delrahim 的信描绘了合并后就业和内容支出方面的美好前景；然而，派拉蒙此前曾表示，与 WBD 的合并将导致裁员，因为合并后的公司旨在节省超过 60 亿美元的成本。派拉蒙在 1 月份的 SEC 文件中称，成本节约将主要来自“业务各方面的重复运营——特别是后台、财务、企业、法律、技术、基础设施和房地产部门”。值得注意的是，合并后的派拉蒙和 WBD 将背负 790 亿美元的债务。

In his note to the DOJ, Delrahim said that the merged company would not reduce headcount in production, “studio operations staff, or the skilled trade labor that the Teamsters and other unions represent.”

在致司法部的说明中，Delrahim 表示，合并后的公司不会削减制作部门、“工作室运营人员，或卡车司机工会及其他工会所代表的技术工种”的人员编制。

Delrahim blames merger concerns on fear-mongering, antisemitism

Delrahim 将合并担忧归咎于散布恐惧和反犹太主义

Although Netflix backed out of its deal to buy Paramount in February, Delrahim believes Netflix is trying to turn people against Paramount buying WBD. His letter reads: Netflix has tried to persuade the Teamsters and other stakeholders that Disney’s [2019] acquisition of [21st Century] Fox had a negative impact on content production and labor opportunities. Frankly, Netflix’s “sky is falling” narrative departs significantly from the ground-truth reality of what actually happened.

尽管 Netflix 已于 2 月退出了收购派拉蒙的交易，但 Delrahim 认为 Netflix 正在试图煽动人们反对派拉蒙收购 WBD。他在信中写道：“Netflix 一直试图说服卡车司机工会和其他利益相关者，称迪士尼（2019 年）对（21 世纪）福克斯的收购对内容制作和就业机会产生了负面影响。坦率地说，Netflix 这种‘天要塌了’的叙事与实际发生的真相大相径庭。”

In its March letter, The International Brotherhood of Teamsters pointed to Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox as indicative of what would happen if Paramount buys WBD. Disney’s Fox studios merger resulted in “eliminated production units, significant job losses, and canceled projects.”

国际卡车司机工会在 3 月份的信中指出，迪士尼收购 21 世纪福克斯的案例预示了如果派拉蒙收购 WBD 可能发生的情况。迪士尼与福克斯工作室的合并导致了“制作部门被裁撤、大量裁员以及项目被取消”。

Delrahim’s letter claims that this argument overlooks Disney’s modifications to its feature film release strategy before buying Fox, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Disney’s theatrical release strategy, and an increase in wide-release theatrical films in the US from 2019 to 2025.

Delrahim 的信声称，这一论点忽略了迪士尼在收购福克斯之前对其长片发行策略的调整、新冠疫情对迪士尼院线发行策略的影响，以及 2019 年至 2025 年间美国大规模院线发行电影数量的增加。

Interestingly, Delrahim also claimed that Disney increased content spend from $5 billion in 2019 to $24 billion expected for 2026, citing a Form 10-K filing with the SEC from 2019. That filing, however, says Disney spent $7.104 billion on film and TV production and $10.517 billion on TV program licenses and rights that year. More broadly speaking, analysts have pointed to Disney spending closer to $28 billion on content in 2019, which would make 2026’s expected $24 billion spend a decrease, not the increase to which Delrahim alluded.

有趣的是，Delrahim 还援引迪士尼 2019 年提交给 SEC 的 10-K 表格文件，声称迪士尼将内容支出从 2019 年的 50 亿美元增加到了 2026 年预计的 240 亿美元。然而，该文件显示，迪士尼当年在影视制作上的支出为 71.04 亿美元，在电视节目许可和版权上的支出为 105.17 亿美元。更广泛地说，分析师指出迪士尼 2019 年在内容上的支出接近 280 亿美元，这意味着 2026 年预计的 240 亿美元支出实际上是减少了，而非 Delrahim 所暗示的增加。

Netflix responded to Delrahim’s letter by calling Paramount’s claims “absurd.” “We walked away from this deal months ago and remain focused on our own business, not theirs. Ultimately, it’s up to the regulators to approve this deal and determine if it is in the best interest of the industry and all concerned,” a Netflix spokesperson said, per Politico. The Teamsters haven’t commented, and Paramount has declined to comment on the letter.

Netflix 对 Delrahim 的信做出了回应，称派拉蒙的指控“荒谬”。据 Politico 报道，Netflix 发言人表示：“我们几个月前就退出了这笔交易，并继续专注于我们自己的业务，而不是他们的。归根结底，是否批准这笔交易，以及确定它是否符合行业和所有相关方的最大利益，取决于监管机构。”卡车司机工会尚未置评，派拉蒙也拒绝就此信发表评论。

Delrahim, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times earlier this month, also accused people of campaigning against the Paramount-WBD merger and blamed antisemitism without further explanation.

Delrahim 在本月初接受《洛杉矶时报》采访时，也曾指责有人在发起反对派拉蒙-WBD 合并的运动，并将其归咎于反犹太主义，但未做进一步解释。