Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming and Benedict Wong Urge U.K. Government to Block Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger in Op-Ed: ‘It Threatens to Inflict Immense Harm’ - Variety

Actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming and Benedict Wong have called on the U.K. government to block the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, warning in a Guardian op-ed that it "threatens to inflict immense harm on the British public."
Addressed to culture minister Lisa Nandy, the op-ed argues her intervention could be one of the most consequential decisions a culture secretary has made for U.K. film, television and media in a generation.
The trio warn the deal could trigger redundancies, cancelled productions, fewer films commissioned and fewer risks taken, though they concede this falls more under the Competition and Markets Authority's remit than Nandy's public-interest review.
They raise concerns over media consolidation, noting Paramount already owns public service broadcaster Channel 5 and CBS, and that acquiring WBD would bring CNN and CNN International under the same ownership, potentially giving one commercially motivated owner control over both the CNN and CBS news archives.
Nandy has said she is "minded to intervene" in the deal, but Parliament is in recess until Sept. 1; she also faces other significant media matters, including Comcast-owned Sky's acquisition of ITV and the BBC's royal charter renewal.
The article notes the European Commission approved the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal the previous week, and references that Nandy retained her role following a cabinet reshuffle under incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham.