Skydance CEOs Pressed On Layoffs & Donald Trump Interference As They Outline Future At Town Hall
Soon after Warner Bros. Discovery accepted Paramount‘s acquisition proposal in February, then-Paramount CEO David Ellison pitched senior Warner executives on his $110 billion takeover of their company.
Seven months later, at a town hall meeting held at the same location, the Steven J. Ross Theater on the Warner lot in Burbank, Ellison spoke to employees from both companies as CEO of their new corporate parent, Skydance Media. A lottery was involved in getting seats in the theater for staffers, with some Paramount executives braving morning traffic for the drive over the hill. The Tuesday event, which offered a preview of the logistical and strategic complications ahead, was also live-streamed.
Over an hour of prepared remarks and Q&A with CNN host Anderson Cooper, Ellison talked up his love of film, vowed to protect CNN against Donald Trump’s attacks, and acknowledged the operatic merger process.
Ellison and Skydance co-CEO Ynon Kreiz were the only speakers during the event. They both stressed the importance of operating as one united company even though they have agreed to maintain two separate studio lots.
The deal’s official close Tuesday “caps off a long-term plan that’s three years in the making,” Ellison said, alluding to the 2025 merger of Skydance and Paramount, which was quickly followed by the WBD quest.
“The last time I was here, I talked about why I got into this business in the first place,” he said. “I love filmmaking. I love the combination of creativity, technology and sheer human ingenuity that goes into taking an idea and turning it into something that can move millions of people around the world.”
While Ellison didn’t volunteer the word “layoffs” in his remarks, he seemed to be reading the room, which is gripped with anxiety over the inevitable cuts. With the company saddled with $80 billion in debt and promising to cut $6 billion in costs, thousands of workers are expected to be let go.
“Bringing together two companies of this size and complexity will require difficult decisions,” Ellison said. “There will be changes, and there will be impacts. I’m not going to pretend otherwise. What I can promise you is that we will move through those decisions as quickly and thoughtfully as we can. We will communicate directly. We will tell you what we know when we know it. And we will not allow a prolonged integration process to distract us from the reason we brought these companies together in the first place: which is to build the next generation media and entertainment company.”
Pressed on the topic by Cooper, the execs declined to offer projections or percentages, reiterating messages from the staff memo they sent earlier in the day and telling the crowd, “You can’t cut your way to growth.”
CNN will continue to have “complete editorial independence,” Ellison told Cooper, adding that he would shield the network from Trump’s interference and criticism.
Despite his family’s closeness to Trump and the MAGA White House, Ellison told Cooper Tuesday that he supported CNN’s efforts to fight the president’s ban of the outlet from the Executive Mansion and exclude it from other coverage.
Asked by reporters in Washington about the deal’s completion, Trump said Skydance is “going to be a great company,” according to a White House pool report. “They’re terrific people.”
Cooper was universally praised by attendees for doing “a good job” asking “tough questions.” Reaction to the responses from Ellison and Kreiz was mixed, with some commending them for tackling difficult topics while others underwhelmed by their “vague non-answers.”
The mega-deal sailed through regulatory approval before hitting a major legal snag in July. Twelve states filed an antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the deal, with the WGA bringing a similar suit. Both were eventually settled after tense negotiations.
“It wasn’t easy to get here,” Ellison told employees. “At times, it was downright ugly. And at nearly every turn, someone told us it couldn’t be done. And here we are.”
Applause and occasional laughter punctuated the prepared remarks. When Ellison introduced 14 members of the new company’s executive leadership team, the crowd let out whoops when he mentioned Makan Delrahim, Chief Legal Officer and President, Global Corporate Affairs. “None of us would be here if it weren’t for Makan,” Ellison said of the former head of the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust division.
Overall, there was “a muted, polite response and applause to moments in Ellison’s remarks as people are dubious and skeptical,” one person said while another felt that there was “hopeful enthusiasm in the room.”
Ellison shared the microphone with Kreiz, the former Mattel CEO who was named Co-CEO of Skydance last week. He called the newly merged entity “one of the most exciting companies in the world,” insisting that he didn’t mean that “hyperbolically.”
He reiterated some of the themes of the memo he and Ellison sent employees earlier in the day, repeatedly emphasizing the importance of unity among employees from the merging companies.
“The industry is at an inflection point, and we have the assets, the brands, the capabilities, the global reach, and most importantly, the people, to be a driver of growth and innovation and rethink business models,” Kreiz said. “Our mission is to build the next-generation global media and entertainment company powered by creativity and technology.”
Despite Ellison’s origins as an actor in films like Flyboys, one employee who viewed the livestream of the town hall said he came across as less polished than Kreiz. That impression would hardly be a surprise, as the 61-year-old Kreiz has been CEO of multiple companies, including a stint at Mattel where he spoke often at investor conferences, on earnings calls and the like.
Both Ellison and Kreiz said “what they needed to say” but their battle for the hearts and minds of weary WBD staffers, who have been through a string of failed acquisitions, may be only now beginning.
“No one really trusts their word,” one person said.
