Netflix has reportedly struck an $82.7 billion deal to buy Warner Bros., and while plenty of Hollywood creatives dislike the idea of another mega-merger, many insiders still see Netflix as the preferable bidder compared with Paramount, which also pursued Warner Bros. but was turned away.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos was called to testify before a Senate subcommittee about the company’s plans. Critics of consolidation argue that mergers on this scale can bring real consequences: job losses across the entertainment industry, further pressure on movie theaters, and higher costs for consumers.
But that’s not what certain Republican senators focused on.
“Why in the world would we give a seal of approval or a thumbs up to make you the largest behemoth on the planet related to content?” asked Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri.
“It seems as though you have engaged in creating not only a monopoly of content, potentially, but the wokest content in the history of the world.”
He added: “Both you and Netflix both have made a habit of promoting DEI and wokeness. I’ll just give a few examples, Netflix content is synonymous for the modern phenomenon of race swapping, both historical and real and fictional characters.”
Paramount vs. “Woke”
It’s also worth noting that the Trump administration would likely benefit if Paramount ended up as the buyer. Paramount’s new chairman and CEO is David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, a major Trump financial supporter.
With Ellison in charge and Bari Weiss serving as editor-in-chief of CBS News, the company has made several recent moves that critics describe as rightward. It has canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and recently pulled a 60 Minutes story about the treatment of deported Venezuelans.
Seen through that lens, MAGA-aligned Republicans taking aim at Netflix isn’t especially surprising. Over the past few years, the meaning of “woke” has been repeatedly reshaped by the right—often used as a dog whistle to attack content that includes LGBTQ+ characters or people of color.
Sarandos in Congress, and More “Culture War” Questions
In another moment from the hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley pressed Netflix on children’s programming, asking: “Why is it that so much of Netflix content for children promotes a transgender ideology?”
The broader contradiction wasn’t lost on critics: Republicans who claim to be focused on protecting children are, at the same time, accused by opponents of prioritizing the protection of redacted names in the Epstein files—while treating queer characters on TV as a moral emergency.
