As if the existence of Skydance, the result of the recent Paramount/Warner Bros. merger, isn’t bad enough, more unwelcome news came this week: Elon Musk will be investing $1 billion in the conglomerate. Yes, the world’s richest man, who’s mad that non-white versions of cartoon characters like “Superman”’s Jimmy Olsen and “Scooby-Doo”’s Daphne Blake, exist, will now have a financial stake in those characters’ corporate owner. Never mind the Ellisons got only a paltry $1 billion from Musk, which won’t even put a dent in their $80 billion debt.
Musk possibly financially benefiting from the purchase of a “SpongeBob” DVD or seeing a Superman movie at the theater just cements my desire to avoid giving this company a dime if I can help it. Between the public library, DVDs, third-party streaming services, and my Jellyfin server (plus non-Paramount/Warner Bros. media, well, existing), I’ll be fine. That said, the main concern online is whether Musk will have any influence over Skydance’s direction, including in material produced. While I’m not sure Musk will storm in DOGE-style demanding every LGBTQ character from Luna Loud to Harley Quinn get shelved (or worse), a bigot like him involved is cause for concern.
Below, I outline three possible directions for the Ellisons-owned Paramount and Warner Bros. Note all of this is on top of the inevitable layoffs, budget cuts, etc. that will happen no matter what.
A. Status quo (which isn’t much to brag about)
Since buying Paramount, the Ellisons have mostly focused on turning CBS News into a right-wing outlet. However, the rest of the company has mostly been status quo, or on autopilot. The Ellisons don’t have much of a creative vision for Paramount, beyond David Ellison’s love of action films. And that clearly won’t change now that the Ellisons own Warner Bros.—they bought that for Batman and Batman-related products (and to mangle CNN), not Turner Classic Movies.
The Ellisons also want to run a media empire like the pre-Disney-sale Murdochs. While “The Simpsons” makes fun of conservatives and liberals alike, that and Fox Sports also still indirectly support the likes of Fox News.
Thus, the Ellisons might not care that they now own a bunch of “woke” characters like Harley Quinn and John Stewart, or that HBO airs “Heated Rivalry.” BET still exists; “RuPaul’s Drag Race” is still airing on Paramount+, and that streaming service still has a Pride section. And given they’re $80 billion in debt, they might not be in a position to start axing popular and lucrative stuff just because it doesn’t meet their conservative ideology.
So as long as the merged Paramount/Warner Bros. make lots of films about stuff blowing up, Tom Cruise and Batman are punching villains, and CNN becomes a right-wing propaganda outlet, the Ellisons won’t care about, or will begrudgingly tolerate, shows about closeted gay hockey players, two Batman supporting characters in a same-sex relationship, and a Black guy headlining their hot new HBO superhero show. As of this writing, they already plan on giving one of the aforementioned Batman supporting characters her own HBO show.
B. The Ellisons start meddling with some stuff for ideological reasons
The Ellisons might decide to not stop at doing to CNN what they did to CBS News. They could decide to start meddling with some Paramount/Warner Bros. content out of ideological reasons.
Perhaps that DC Comics Pride Month issue stops getting produced… or it still exists, but with DC’s trans characters getting little or no spotlight. Maybe we start seeing fewer TV shows with diverse casts in front of and behind the camera. Or Nickelodeon/Cartoon Network characters stop referring to having two Dads… or those channels feature more shows where the Black characters are only sidekicks/best friends to the (white) stars. Or they pull the popular-among-bigots “we hire the best people for the job” card (read: Ryan Coogler shouldn’t expect a post-”Sinners” callback). And if Musk does get a say in what content is produced, who knows what’ll happen to Skydance’s people of color and LGBTQ characters. Though it’s a safe bet in any scenario that the recent “Musk” documentary (which HBO has streaming/TV rights) will either be quietly shelved post-theatrical run or only run on streaming long enough to satisfy any contractual obligations.
It wouldn’t be going full MAGA (more on that below), but it would still be messing with content in a regressive and noticeable way. Skydance could still claim to have diversity, but the TV shows, movies, and comics produced will clearly show it’s not what it should be.
C. Skydance goes full MAGA
This is the worst case scenario. Skydance, with Musk in tow, decide to go full MAGA and go to town on making a lot of their content right-wing. BET’s fate? Good luck. CBS? A lot more military and cop shows. DC Comics? Who knows. And any people of color or LGBTQ characters? Hope audiences like only seeing them as sidekicks/secondary characters at best, if they exist at all—just like the “good old days.”
This would be the most extreme scenario, but also the most unlikely one. Even if Skydance’s owners wouldn’t lose sleep over a film slate and TV show lineup as white as a Trump rally, it wouldn’t exactly be good from a profit motive. Audiences expect some diversity to modern entertainment, with their favorite stars and characters including people of color and LGBTQ folk. And with billions in debt, Skydance can’t afford to appeal only to Trump supporters… some of who might still expect to see Wayne Brady hosting “Let’s Make a Deal.”
Conclusion
My guess is we’re looking at scenario “B,” or a mix of “A” and “B.” If Musk is really involved at all with creative decisions, who knows what’ll happen. Still, I’m not optimistic about diversity in future Paramount/Warner Bros. productions going forward. I don’t know if it’ll be as catastrophic as what this Hollywood Reporter article fears.
“Warner Brothers tour” by Alan Light is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Flickr / cropped from original) and “Paramount Studios Los Angeles” by Tips For Travellers is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Flickr)
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