As Mark Ruffalo continues to publicly slam Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood star believes his outspoken remarks may have already rubbed industry executives the wrong way. The actor recently claimed that he suspects he has landed on Paramount’s “banned actors” list because of his views against the deal.
Mark Ruffalo reveals
During a recent appearance on the I’ve Had It podcast, Mark said that he thinks he is “already on a list” of Paramount-Skydance’s banned stars because he has been so opposed to the studio’s acquisition of Warner Bros.
“I’m doing this because I know we have to. And I know no matter what, if I don’t speak out, it’s the same outcome. I’m already on a list. I’m already not a friend of these people. And so you’re either going to fight, or you’re going to lie down. But the same outcome will be if you don’t (fight), if you lay down. That’s the way it is with every bully in the world,” Mark said.
At the moment, the Oscar nominee and his attorney Norm Eisen are urging officials to enact antitrust laws and block the takeover after accumulating more than 5,000 signatures on his open letter against the merger.
Talking about the open letter condemning the merger, Mark shared, “It’s interesting because a lot of people, off the bat, were afraid to sign it. They’re afraid because, to quote one prominent agent whose name I won’t divulge here, these are some vindictive motherf***ers, the Ellisons… What we know is that courage is contagious, and there’s safety in numbers. A lot of the people on this letter are people who either can afford to be there, like myself, or people who can’t afford to not be there. They’re fighting for their lives. The stakes are very, very high. They understand what happens when these mergers happen”.
More about Mark’s criticism of the merger
Mark released his open letter in April, and then in May, he wrote an op-ed in The New York Times, asking people to fight against Paramount-Skydance’s pursuit of Warner Bros. In the op-ed, he mentioned that actors and filmmakers were afraid that Paramount-Skydance would retaliate if they took a stand against them.
“The most revealing thing about that letter wasn’t the people who signed. It was the people who didn’t. Not because they disagreed — because they were afraid,” Mark wrote at that time.
In February this year, after Netflix withdrew its name from the high-stakes bidding war for Hollywood studio Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount finalised its bid to acquire the studio and its assets. According to Reuters, Warner Bros Discovery has agreed to be acquired by Paramount Skydance in a $110 billion deal. In a statement released by the companies on Friday, they said that the deal, with an equity value of $81 billion, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.