EXCLUSIVE: PARAMOUNT WINS. NETFLIX WALKS. HOLLYWOOD HOLDS ITS BREATH.
BLOODBATH BUZZ AND A $2.8 BILLION ESCAPE PLAN
Hello, hello, hello…
The deal drama is over — and Paramount Global is still standing while Netflix exits with a $2.8 billion consolation prize.
“It’s not a merger — it’s a massacre waiting to happen,” one studio insider tells me.
After months of flirtation with Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix blinked. “Ted saw the political headwinds and decided not to sail into them,” a media banker says of co-CEO Ted Sarandos. “You don’t pick a fight with Washington and Trump unless you’re ready to bleed.”
Another executive was blunter: “The vibe out of D.C. was: ‘Good luck with that.’”
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Inside Paramount and WBD? Panic.
“Everyone’s updating their résumé.”
“There are two of everything. That math ends one way.”
“We’re calling it The Purge.”
At CNN, the nerves are just as raw. “When leadership says ‘don’t speculate,’ that’s when you speculate,” one staffer whispers.
Over on the Warner lot, CEO David Zaslav is holding a town hall. “Town hall equals ‘brace yourselves,’” a veteran exec sighs.
Wall Street, meanwhile, is thrilled Netflix walked. “Investors hated this from day one,” says an analyst. “Netflix builds. It doesn’t buy.”
One producer sums it up best: “Paramount won the prize. Netflix won the escape hatch.”
And the only certainty in Hollywood today?
“Nobody feels safe.”
Cheers,
Rob
Remember, if you’re going to be naughty you’ve got to be nice. 💋