Dozens of protesters, including members of Congress, gathered along the National Mall on Thursday to protest an “intimate” dinner being held by Paramount Skydance’s chief executive, David Ellison, “in celebration of the first amendment” and “honoring the Trump White House and CBS White House correspondents”, and attended by Donald Trump.
Paramount has faced criticism for the dinner, which has been seen by some as illustrative of the cozy relationship between the Ellisons and the White House – right as the Trump administration is weighing whether to approve the company’s $110bn merger with CNN parent company WarnerBros Discovery (WBD). The dinner comes before Saturday’s White House correspondents’ dinner, which Trump will attend. His defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is expected to sit at one of the many tables bought by CBS News for the event.
Earlier Thursday, WBD shareholders voted “overwhelmingly” to approve the merger, which will still require approval from the Department of Justice and European regulators.
The US representative Jamie Raskin, who has been vocal in his criticism of the Ellisons’ ownership of CBS News, referred to the event as “a lavish oligarch’s dinner for Donald Trump”.
“We’re gathered here together tonight [because] in the building behind us, David Ellison is hosting a dinner to honor President Trump, a dinner that’s designed to cement the Ellisons to the president in their years-running corrupt merger scheme,” Raskin said.
The representative said the merger, which would bring a large number of television networks under the control of the Ellisons, was “crafted to consolidate old and new media in the interests of the Maga movement and the Donald Trump family”.
“Right now, you got David Ellison probably as I speak in that building right behind me raising a glass to his friend, his supporter, his patron, Donald Trump,” said Becca Balint, the Democratic Vermont lawmaker and a member of the House antitrust subcommittee.
“Think about that for a moment. Think about that. We’re out here demanding accountability, which we have a right to do, not just as members of Congress, but the people have a right to do – demanding accountability, and while we’re doing that, and we’re doing the work of the people, of the people, by the people, and for the people, we’re doing that work, and inside they are celebrating power. That’s what they’re celebrating: power and corruption.”
Speakers encouraged the crowd not to give up hope on blocking the merger, with many antitrust experts viewing a lawsuit from a coalition of state attorneys general as the most likely vehicle for doing so.
Norm Eisen, founder of Democracy Defenders Action, said Thursday’s dinner honoring the Trump administration “resembles a celebration of the first amendment the same way a book burning is a celebration of the written word”.
“That has nothing to do with celebrating the first amendment,” he added. “You all are celebrating the first amendment by being here to block the merger.”
