In a February 27, 2025 memo, Warner Bros. Discovery said its broader diversity, equity and inclusion work would be called “Inclusion,” while affirming commitments to inclusive storytelling, recruiting, employee groups and development. It also announced consistent, open application processes for talent programs and an end to third-party workplace surveys, while continuing internal data collection.
“Our overarching work in this space will now be referred to as Inclusion,” the company said in a memo to staff today obtained by Deadline. “Making this change better aligns our language with our focus throughout our company, in our industry, and across our content.”
After WBD’s board selected Paramount’s offer over Netflix’s in February 2026, all 10 employees interviewed anonymously by CNBC said they feared potential layoffs and questioned who would lead their divisions. They cited Paramount’s $6 billion savings target; some said they preferred Netflix’s long-term fit. The merger still required regulatory and shareholder approval.
The Warner Bros. Discovery board may have enriched its shareholders Thursday when it chose Paramount Skydance's acquisition offer over Netflix's, but it also terrified a lot of its employees.
The influential shareholder proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended that Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders reject the golden parachute pay packages for CEO David Zaslav and other top executives at the company, noting the “extraordinary” nature of the agreements.
A proposed shareholder class action filed in November 2024 alleges that Warner Bros. Discovery, CEO David Zaslav and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels issued misleading market statements and concealed adverse facts during NBA rights negotiations. The suit says investors who bought WBD securities from February 23 to August 7 suffered losses after WBD lost NBA rights; the allegations have not been established in court.
Zaslav and Wiedenfels, referred to as “Individual Defendants” in the lawsuit, are accused of presenting “misleading” SEC filings, press releases, and other market communications for the company.
In May 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said CNN was rebuilding under Chris Licht and should be a place for “the best version of the truth.” He said Republicans had returned to CNN’s air and that the network aimed to show both sides, while acknowledging CNN’s brand had been perceived as left-leaning even when ratings were strong.
“During the McCarthy hearings, for those four days, we had 75 Republicans on the air, 41 went on us before they want on Fox [News]. And the reason is, as I’ve said, and Chris [CNN chief Chris Licht] has too, to a number of them, they are not going to get one more vote on Fox News. They’ve already got that.” He was referring to successive votes over four days in January as the GOP struggled to unite its ranks to reach a victory for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“Republicans are back on the air. Republicans weren’t on the air,” on CNN, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav told a media conference Thursday as he said the storied brand is moving to become less of an “advocacy network” under new leadership. “During the McCarthy hearings, for those four days, we had 75 Republicans on […]
On Feb. 6, 2024, TheWrap reported that a judge dismissed an Ohio-led proposed class action against Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels. The 2022 suit alleged WBD inflated HBO Max subscriptions and withheld information to secure merger approval. Judge Valerie Caproni ruled the case would not proceed; Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost had disputed WBD’s disclosures.
Warner Bros. Discovery was named victorious Monday in a September 2022 lawsuit alleging David Zaslav and other executives inflated HBO Max streaming subscriptions ahead of Warner Bros. merger with Discovery, duping “hundreds of thousands” of shareholders.
On September 30, 2026, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved Paramount’s settlement with 12 state attorneys general, clearing a hurdle to its merger with WBD. Commitments include film-output requirements, an editorial board for CNN and CBS News, and separate basic-cable negotiations. Critics said the deal lacks structural remedies and leaves alleged harms unaddressed; California’s attorney general said it protects competition and consumers.
The settlement requires Paramount to set up an “Editorial Independence Board” for CBS News and CNN. The Editorial Independence Board members would be chosen by Paramount and would report to Paramount’s board of directors, which is chaired by CEO David Ellison.
The settlement includes a number of legally enforceable commitments by Paramount over five years following the close, like a set number of theatrical releases, an editorial oversight board for CNN and CBS, and negotiating separately with distributors for Paramount and WBD cable networks. There are some loopholes and there were no structural remedies. Read the settlement document here.
“We are confident this transaction raises no such concerns, as demonstrated by the dozens of antitrust authorities around the world that have carefully reviewed the transaction and either cleared it or concluded that it does not violate applicable competition laws,” the PSKY rep went on to say as the likes of France, Canada, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Australia and China have all already given the merger their blessings. In the case of Trump’s DOJ, some officials with the Justice Department held that the merger needed to looked into further, but were overruled last month, it has been widely reported and Deadline has confirmed. “These clearances underscore what the facts, the law and the economics make clear: this transaction will create a stronger challenger to dominant global streaming and technology platforms, expand consumer choice, increase investment in premium content and theatrical distribution, and create more opportunities for creators and workers. We are confident the facts and the law support this transaction, and we will continue to defend it vigorously.”
The settlement requires the post-merger entity to conduct separate negotiations for the licensing of basic cable channels owned by Paramount and Warner Bros. Bonta’s office said the condition, which lasts for five years, would “preserv[e] the existing competitive dynamic between the companies” and help “keep prices down for consumers.” This provision does not apply to premium cable channels, streaming services, and broadcast content.
Among the top-line terms in Paramount’s settlement with the states: Paramount is prohibited from selling the Paramount Studios or Warner Bros. lots in the state for at least five years, and is obligated to invest at least an additional $300 million on film production in the U.S. annually — for a total of $1.5 billion over five years. The combined Paramount-WB also must release at least 30 movies for theatrical distribution in the first two years (something Ellison has repeatedly promised he would do) and at least 32 in years 3-5, with a 45-day window for wide-release films. The merged Paramount-Warner Bros. also will be subject to monitoring by a “news editorial independence board,” which will establish “guiding editorial and journalism principles” for CNN and CBS News.
Twelve states led by California sued to block the deal in July and were able to delay it when US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ruled that Paramount combining with Warner Bros. would likely reduce competition substantially and violate antitrust laws. Despite that initial victory, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement with Paramount earlier this week and the other states involved in the lawsuit signed on to the deal.
In addition, Paramount must establish a News Editorial Independence Board for CNN, which is owned by WBD, and CBS News, which Paramount owns.
On Oct. 16, 2025, WBD said a boycott of Israeli film institutions violates its policies against discrimination based on religion, national origin or ancestry. The company said it respects advocacy rights but will follow its policies and the law. Its statement opposed the pledge targeting institutions, not a reported policy on individual filmmakers.
“Our policies prohibit discrimination of any kind, including discrimination based on race, religion, national origin or ancestry. We believe a boycott of Israeli film institutions violates our policies. While we respect the rights of individuals and groups to express their views and advocate for causes, we will continue to align our business practices with the requirements of our policies and the law.”
“Warner Bros. Discovery is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful environment for its employees, collaborators and other stakeholders. Our policies prohibit discrimination of any kind, including discrimination based on race, religion, national origin or ancestry. We believe a boycott of Israeli film institutions violates our policies,” a WBD spokesperson said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “While we respect the rights of individuals and groups to express their views and advocate for causes, we will continue to align our business practices with the requirements of our policies and the law.”
On September 11, 2026, a California appeals court reversed a 2024 ruling that had allowed Dan Schneider’s defamation suit against Warner Bros. Discovery, Maxine Productions and others to proceed. The panel said Schneider had not shown a likelihood of success, finding the documentary distinguished his alleged workplace misconduct from abuse attributed to named perpetrators. WBD did not comment.
What the panel did not refrain from was reversing a November 2024 ruling by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ashfaq G. Chowdhury denying the anti-SLAPP efforts by Warner Bros Discovery and Maxine Productions to have the iCarly creator's suit dismissed. The appeals court concluded in its 37-page order "that Schneider has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of his defamation claim."
OpenSecrets lists Warner Brothers Discovery PAC donors for the 2021–2022 election cycle. The records show David M. Zaslav contributed $5,000 on August 2, 2021, with Discovery Communications LLC listed as his occupation. The page reports 10 individual contributions of $200 or more to the PAC in that cycle.
NEW YORK, NY 10022</td> <td>DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS LLC</td> <td>08/12/2021</td> <td>$5,000</td> </tr><tr> <td>LEAVY, DAVID
On April 1, 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery directors Steven Miron and Steven Newhouse resigned after the Justice Department told them they were under investigation over potential Section 8 Clayton Act violations. The DOJ alleged overlapping board roles involving WBD, Charter and Advance. The directors resigned without admitting a violation and said they chose not to contest the matter.
Two members of Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) board have resigned amid an investigation from the Department of Justice into whether their presence on the body violated antitrust law. Steven Miron and Steven Newhouse, both independent company directors, resigned from WBD’s board of directors Monday, the company said, after the DOJ made them aware they were under investigation. Miron and Newhouse informed WBD that "without admitting any violation, and in light of the changing dynamics of competition in the entertainment industry, they elected to resign rather than to contest the matter." Miron is the chief executive of Charter Communications, and Newhouse is president of Advance, two of the largest media conglomerates in the country. The DOJ had alleged the two executives' presence on the board violated Section 8 of the Clayton Act, which prohibits the same person or company from serving simultaneously on the boards of competitors, subject to limited exceptions. "Charter, through its Spectrum cable service, and WBD, including through its Max streaming subscription services, both provide video distribution services to customers," the department said in a statement on Monday. "Representatives of the privately-held media company Advance Publications Inc. had designees on both Charter’s and WBD’s boards of directors." Miron and Newhouse were each appointed to the WBD board effective upon the closing of the merger between Discovery Inc. and WarnerMedia in 2022, and both were originally named by Discovery Inc. as two of its six designees to the WBD board, the company noted. “Both Steve and Steven have been a great source of wise counsel and tremendous industry insight over the years, and they played an integral role in getting this new company up and running and on a path to long-term growth," said David Zaslav, chief executive officer of Warner Bros. Discovery.
In January 2025, Chris Brown sued Warner Bros. Discovery over Investigation Discovery’s 2024 series Chris Brown: A History of Violence, seeking $500 million. His complaint alleges the series knowingly published false, defamatory claims despite evidence challenging them. These are Brown’s allegations, not established findings; the suit also names an anonymous accuser as a defendant.
Chris Brown has filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery over the 2024 Investigation Discovery docuseries Chris Brown: A History Of Violence. Brown’s suit accuses WBD of “promoting and publishing false information in their pursuit of likes, clicks, downloads and dollars” despite “knowing that it was full of lies and deception and violating basic journalistic principles,” per Rolling Stone. Brown is seeking $500 million in damages.
The New York Post reported in February 2026 that WBD CEO David Zaslav missed a Senate antitrust hearing on a planned Netflix deal while traveling to Europe, including to meet regulators. Sources said committee members were angered and Senator Mike Lee might seek a follow-up appearance; Lee’s spokesperson said he was glad company representatives attended and made no further comment.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav skipped town during a Senate antitrust hearing on his planned sale to Netflix – but the media mogul is said to have angered committee members so much that not only did they take their ire out on those who showed up, he may still get hauled onto Capitol Hill for a grilling, On The Money has learned.
A Sept. 8, 2021, USA Today opinion article reported that David Zaslav, then leading the merger of CNN and Discovery, had donated more than $240,000. The article argued for greater transparency in political spending by media owners; it did not specify the recipients or donation dates for Zaslav.