Mark Ruffalo is continuing his campaign against the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger even after a federal judge approved a settlement containing billions of dollars in domestic production commitments and extensive protections for Hollywood workers.
The Marvel actor issued a new statement following the approval of the settlement, arguing that the merger never should have been permitted to move forward.
This merger will stifle creativity, weaken free speech, and cost people their jobs — it is a bad deal for this country and should never have been approved. This is an incredibly disappointing outcome for the hundreds of thousands of us who stood up to block it, but it’s also not…
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) September 30, 2026
“This merger will stifle creativity, weaken free speech, and cost people their jobs — it is a bad deal for this country and should never have been approved,” Ruffalo wrote on X, a platform he has told people to abandon in the past. “This is an incredibly disappointing outcome for the hundreds of thousands of us who stood up to block it, but it’s also not the end. This grassroots movement isn’t going to fade away and neither is our resolve.”
Ruffalo added that the campaign had become about more than the Paramount-Warner Bros. transaction.
“This was never about just one merger: this was about fighting back against corrupt oligarch billionaires trampling the interests of everyday people to line their own pockets,” he said. “We’re still in that fight. Join us.”
Ruffalo’s latest comments come after months of campaigning against the approximately $110 billion transaction. At one point, he publicly warned California Attorney General Rob Bonta, “Don’t you dare” settle the lawsuit, while claiming that more than 75,000 people had signed onto the campaign opposing the deal.
But Bonta ultimately did settle—and the resulting agreement contains significant concessions specifically aimed at addressing concerns about jobs, production, and competition.
Paramount Commits Billions to U.S. Production
The settlement announced by Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general requires the combined company to spend at least an additional $1.5 billion on U.S. film production over five years compared with its 2025 spending levels.
According to the California Attorney General’s Office, the agreement also requires Paramount to release 30 movies annually during the first two years following the merger, including 20 wide releases. That requirement increases to 32 movies annually during years three through five, including 21 wide releases.
At least four independent movies must also be released each year.
And unlike earlier promises surrounding the transaction, these requirements are legally enforceable.
Paramount Pictures Logo – YouTube, ClosingLogosHD
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If Paramount fails to meet the annual film-output requirement, the company must divest Miramax and pay $30 million for each movie it falls short, with that money going toward union healthcare and retirement funds.
The settlement additionally creates a $47.5 million Workforce Fund for training and career development for workers displaced by the merger. Paramount must honor existing collective bargaining agreements and bargain in good faith with unions.
None of those provisions guarantee that layoffs won’t occur as Paramount and Warner Bros. combine operations. Indeed, the establishment of a fund for displaced workers recognizes that some job losses remain possible.
But they complicate Ruffalo’s sweeping claim that the merger will simply “cost people their jobs.”
Bonta, who previously led the lawsuit attempting to stop the transaction, described the final agreement very differently.
“There’s no Hollywood without the people who work on and off screen to make the magic happen, and today’s settlement protects workers, jobs, and Hollywood,” Bonta said.
Hollywood Unions Back Key Parts of the Settlement
Bonta isn’t alone. Several major entertainment labor organizations welcomed provisions of the agreement despite concerns about consolidation.
Directors Guild of America National Executive Director Russell Hollander said the agreement contained “important binding and enforceable commitments” protecting domestic film jobs. IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb thanked Bonta for obtaining “protections for workers” and enforceable safeguards. The Teamsters went further, explicitly announcing its support for the settlement and saying the agreement included protections for workers affected by the merger.
Logos for Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. – Paramount, WB
The Writers Guild of America even said the agreement addressed some of its “deep concerns about production levels and investment in U.S. production.”
That puts Ruffalo in the unusual position of continuing to condemn the settlement as harmful to workers while organizations directly representing large numbers of Hollywood workers positively acknowledge significant protections contained within it.
Ruffalo Expands His Fight to ‘All Media Mergers’
Ruffalo has also expanded his opposition beyond Paramount and Warner Bros.
In another recent social media post, Ruffalo argued that the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal demonstrated why future media consolidation should be stopped altogether.
“Another reason why the Paramount Warner Bros merger and all media mergers going forward should blocked,” Ruffalo wrote. “These consolidations put our freedom of speech even more vulnerable to control by our oligarch overlords.”
The phrase “all media mergers going forward” creates an interesting dividing line.
Another reason why the Paramount Warner Bros merger and all media mergers going forward should blocked. These consolidations put our freedom of speech even more vulnerable to control by our oligarch overlords. #WatchMuskDoc https://t.co/BUvRXDtb50
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) September 26, 2026
Disney completed its approximately $71 billion acquisition of most of 21st Century Fox in 2019, consolidating two enormous entertainment companies and bringing properties including X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool under the same corporate umbrella as Marvel Studios.
Ruffalo was already firmly established as Marvel’s Hulk by then and continued appearing in Disney-owned Marvel productions following the acquisition.
Ruffalo’s Campaign Against the Merger Sparked Its Own Controversy
Ruffalo also found himself at the center of controversy during his campaign against Paramount.
In August, he connected the Ellison family’s business interests to Oracle’s relationship with Israel while condemning the Paramount transaction.
“This is the company that Larry Ellison is using to fund his son David’s Warner Bros. acquisition,” Ruffalo wrote at the time, before connecting Oracle technology with what he characterized as a “gen**ide” in Gaza and a “system of oppression.”
David Ellison talks to Bloomberg – YouTube, Bloomberg Podcasts
Paramount responded by accusing Ruffalo of invoking antisemitic rhetoric, calling his remarks “a bridge too far.” Several Jewish organizations subsequently criticized his comments as well.
Ruffalo strongly denied the accusation.
“The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest,” he responded. “Criticizing the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticizing Jewish people.”
The dispute nevertheless became another major story surrounding Ruffalo’s campaign, shifting some attention away from the economic and antitrust questions surrounding the transaction itself.
Ruffalo’s Campaign Ultimately Failed to Stop the Deal
Whatever influence Ruffalo’s campaign generated online, it ultimately wasn’t enough to produce the outcome he sought.
Ruffalo repeatedly urged Bonta not to settle, thousands signed petitions opposing the merger, and he used his celebrity and substantial social media following to generate publicity for the campaign.
Bonta settled anyway.
There are legitimate arguments against allowing two enormous entertainment companies to combine. Bonta’s office originally sued precisely because it claimed the merger could reduce competition, decrease output, and harm consumers and workers. The combined company is expected to control approximately 27% of wide-release theatrical film distribution, according to the original state lawsuit.
Bonta has also been careful to emphasize that the settlement itself should not be interpreted as an endorsement of consolidation.
Mark Ruffalo speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con International, for “Thor: Ragnarok” Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
“This settlement is not a vote of support for this merger,” he said.
Instead, California and the other states concluded that legally enforceable production requirements, billions in additional domestic investment, worker protections, and competition safeguards represented the better outcome.
Ruffalo disagrees. But with the settlement approved and the merger moving toward completion, his months-long campaign to stop Paramount and Warner Bros. from combining has reached a remarkably straightforward conclusion:
The merger he repeatedly demanded regulators block is moving forward anyway.
How do you feel about Mark Ruffalo and his opposition to the Paramount merger? Sound off and let us know!
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