Paramount has been caught using a fake grassroots organization to generate artificial public support for its proposed $111 billion merger with Warner Brothers, according to reporting by The Intercept and analysis by consumer rights groups.
The company employed a nonprofit called Neighbors for Strong Communities to send text messages to California residents urging them to pressure California Attorney General Rob Bonta to drop his antitrust lawsuit against the merger. The messages claimed that enforcing antitrust law would cost the state thousands of jobs, citing reported threats by Paramount leadership to relocate the company to Texas if the deal faced regulatory obstacles.
According to the Committee for the First Amendment, a coalition of consumer rights groups that actually discloses its funding, Neighbors for Strong Communities exhibits hallmarks of a corporate-backed astroturf campaign. The organization’s website is less than three months old and discloses no founders, board members, staff, or funders. It does not appear in ProPublica’s nonprofit database. The group’s listed address—1902-A Lincoln Blvd, Suite 1314, Santa Monica, CA—is a private PO Box at a UPS store, which the coalition identifies as “classic hallmarks of a corporate-backed astroturf campaign designed to manufacture the appearance of grassroots opposition.”
Paramount and Neighbors for Strong Communities have insisted the effort is authentic, though there is reportedly no discernable paper trail connecting the organization to the company.
This represents one of several aggressive tactics Paramount has employed to advance the merger. According to reporting, the company has accused merger critics of antisemitism, threatened to relocate out of California if states attempt to enforce antitrust laws, and conducted PR campaigns making claims about the benefits of media consolidation.
Mergers of this scale, particularly involving major media companies like Warner Brothers, have historically resulted in mass layoffs, higher consumer prices, and reduced product quality as merged entities work to service debt from the deal. Critics note that nothing would prevent Paramount from offshoring production even if the merger were approved, continuing an existing industry trend.
Key facts
- Paramount used nonprofit ‘Neighbors for Strong Communities’ to send texts pressuring California AG Rob Bonta to drop antitrust lawsuit
- The astroturf group was formed three months ago and discloses no founders, board members, staff, or funders
- The organization’s address is listed as a private PO Box at a UPS store in Santa Monica
- Consumer rights groups say the structure matches classic corporate astroturf campaign tactics
- Paramount has also accused merger critics of antisemitism and threatened to leave California