Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is reportedly preparing a high-profile Washington event as his company’s biggest deal yet hangs in the balance. The media mogul plans to honor President Donald Trump at an intimate dinner, timed curiously close to a pivotal vote on his $111 billion acquisition bid.
David Ellison plans a dinner event to honor Donald Trump, claims report
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison will reportedly host an “intimate” Washington dinner next week honoring President Donald Trump. The event comes as Ellison awaits federal approval for his $111 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, according to media newsletter Breaker and Variety.
The dinner will take place next Thursday at the U.S. Institute of Peace. It precedes the White House Correspondents’ Dinner the following weekend. The event will also celebrate CBS’s White House reporters, though Trump’s attendance remains unconfirmed.
Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery reached their merger agreement in February. Ellison beat rival Netflix to acquire the media empire, which includes CNN, HBO, and the Harry Potter franchise. Warner Bros. shareholders are scheduled to vote on the deal on April 23, the same day as the reported Ellison dinner.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly backed the merger in March while criticising media coverage of the administration. “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” Hegseth said at a press conference on the Iran war. CBS News has reportedly invited Hegseth and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to the Correspondents’ Dinner.
More than 1,000 Hollywood figures opposed the merger this week in an open letter. “The result will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world,” they wrote. “Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major U.S. film studios to just four.”
The Trump administration has rejected claims that its ties to the Ellisons will influence regulatory review. “The idea that somehow enforcement has been politicized is ludicrous,” Justice Department antitrust official Omeed Assefi told Reuters in March.
Originally reported by Vritti Johar on Mandatory.com.
