Paramount Pictures’ account on X was apparently hacked Tuesday, according to Variety, with its bio reading, “Proud arm of the fascist regime,” amid the company’s bidding war with Netflix for control of Warner Bros.
The account was seemingly hacked Tuesday afternoon.
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
Key Takeaways
- The account’s bio has since been changed back to, “The official X account for Paramount Pictures.”
- The hack of the account, which has 3.4 million followers, follows a report from The Wall Street Journal that said Paramount CEO David Ellison offered assurances to the Trump administration that if his company bought Warner Bros., he would make “sweeping changes to CNN,” a news outlet Trump has targeted for years.
- Trump has told close associates that he wants new ownership at CNN alongside changes to the news outlet’s programming, the Journal added.
- Forbes has reached out to Paramount for comment.
Crucial Quote
“None of them are particularly great friends of mine,” President Donald Trump told reporters Monday, refusing to take a side between Netflix and Paramount, the latter of which has said it has financial backing from Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to buy Warner Bros. The president said Sunday he will be “involved” in the regulatory decisions behind approving the sale of Warner Bros. to another company.
Key Background
Netflix announced last week it reached a deal with Warner Bros. to buy the media conglomerate for $82.7 billion, besting Comcast and Paramount in a bidding war. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026 pending regulatory approvals and will spin off Discovery, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., into its own separate company known as Discovery Global. CNN would also be spun off and operate under Discovery Global.
Paramount has blasted the deal, according to multiple outlets, calling it “tainted” and claiming the Warner Bros. board had “embarked on a myopic process with a predetermined outcome that favors a single bidder.”
Netflix has insisted it is “super confident” with its bid, even as Paramount launched a hostile bid for Warner Bros. that would provide shareholders $18 billion more in cash than Netflix’s deal. Paramount will offer $30 per share for Warner Bros., topping the $27.75 per share included in Netflix’s agreement.
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