S6, E262 - WARNER BROS CRISIS: Class Action Lawsuit & The $108B Hostile Takeover (Dec 15 Update)

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It is Monday, December 15th, and the battle for Hollywood has officially gone nuclear.

What started as an $82 billion acquisition by Netflix has morphed into a $108 billion hostile takeover battle with Paramount Skydance. As of this morning, stocks are volatile, the government has frozen the deal, and a massive Class Action Lawsuit has just been filed to burn it all down.

In this Special Report from Privacy Please, we break down the chaos of the last 72 hours. We uncover the "National Security" weapon Netflix is using to kill the deal, the foreign money backing Paramount, and the leaked memos that reveal why executives are selling you out.

No matter who wins—the Algorithm or the Oligarchs—your privacy is the casualty.

Time Stamps / Key Moments:

0:00 - Monday Morning Chaos: Stocks Halted & The $108B Counter-Bid

2:15 - Future A vs. Future B: The Algorithm Era vs. The Oligarch Era

5:30 - BREAKING: The "National Security" Argument & Class Action Lawsuit

8:45 - Leaked Memos: The "Golden Parachute" Betrayal

11:20 - The Fallout: Why Streaming Prices Will Hit $35/Month

What you'll uncover in this deep dive:

The Weekend of Chaos: A complete timeline of how Netflix lost control of the deal over the weekend.

The "Foreign Money" Threat: Why Paramount's backing by sovereign wealth funds has regulators panicked.

Netflix's Hypocrisy: How the surveillance giant is weaponizing "privacy" to stop their competitors.

The Consumer Cost: Why the era of cheap streaming is officially dead.

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#WarnerBros #Netflix #Paramount #StreamingWars #PrivacyPlease #Antitrust #FTC #DataPrivacy #Hollywood #BreakingNews #ClassAction #StockMarket

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (01:29):
It's Thursday, December 11th, at the time of
this recording.
And if you tried to trade WarnerBrothers today, you couldn't.
Trading has been halted.
The lawyers have been unleashed.
The Civil War for Hollywood hasofficially gone nuclear.

(01:50):
What started last Friday as asimple acquisition has morphed
into a national security crisis.
We have Netflix suing to block arival bid.
We have the FTC freezing theassets, and we have a hundred
billion on the table.
The prize?
Batman, Harry Potter, and theprivate data of 150 million

(02:14):
Americans.
Today on Privacy Please, webreak down the wildest week in
media history.
The Friday shock, the Mondayambush, and the Thursday
meltdown.
Who's gonna own your eyes next?

(02:49):
And before we dig into thischaos, a quick reminder: we are
building a community dedicatedto navigating these complex and
digital issues, and we'd lovefor you to be a part of it.
If you're listening on a podcastapp, please take a second to
follow or subscribe so you nevermiss an episode.
And if you want to see the videoversion of this discussion, head

(03:10):
over to our YouTube channel orour website,
theproblemlounge.com, where youcan find all of our links.
Now, with that being said, let'sdig in.
Let's talk about something thatpeople aren't really talking
about.
If you've been on social mediathis week, you're probably
having a little bit of whiplash.

(03:32):
Maybe maybe not that drastic,but um let's stop and rewind a
little bit.
To understand why the governmentfroze everything today, we have
to take a look at how this warstarted.
It began last Friday.
Netflix dropped a bombshelloffering$82.7 billion to Warner
Brothers.
Their plan was ruthlesslyefficient.
Acquire HBO, the movie studios,and DC Comics, then feed the

(03:57):
viewing data of 90 million HBOsubscribers into their famous
algorithm.
We call this Future A, thealgorithm era.
Netflix would own the mostcomprehensive psychographic
profile of human behavior inhistory.
They would know your guiltypleasures and your high art
tastes, allowing them tomanipulate culture on a global

(04:19):
scale.
But then Monday happened.
Just as Netflix was popping thechampagne, Paramount Skydance
kicked down the door.
They launched a hostile all-cashcounter bid of 108 billion.
This is future B.
Paramount wants to merge CNNwith CBS News, creating a

(04:44):
massive information monopoly,but the privacy please red flag
is where the money is comingfrom.
Paramount's bid is backed by acorrelation of private equity
and foreign sovereign wealthfunds.
So the choice is do you want asurveillance algorithm
controlling your entertainmentor a foreign-backed conglomerate

(05:07):
controlling your news?
Does it really matter at thispoint?
Anyways, that brings us totoday, which is when the gloves
really came off.
Thursday, the 11th, that I'mrecording this, Netflix decided
to play dirty.
They filed a federal lawsuit toblock Paramount, and their
argument wasn't about antitrustor money.

(05:29):
It was about national security.
So Netflix is arguing thathanding over CNN and the
personal data of a millionAmericans to a company backed by
foreign governments is a threatto the United States.
The irony here is prettystaggering.
Netflix, the company thatinvented mass surveillance for

(05:50):
entertainment, is suddenlyposing as the patriotic
protector of your privacy.
Classic.
They are using our concerns,data sovereignty, privacy,
security, as a weapon to killtheir business rival.
But make no mistake, Netflixdoesn't care about protecting
your data from foreign spies.

(06:12):
They just want to make sure theyare the only ones allowed to
exploit it.
This lawsuit was the final strawfor the regulators.
At 2 p.m.
today, the Federal TradeCommission announced an
emergency antitrust review ofboth bids, effectively freezing
the deal in its tracks.
So right now, Hollywood isparalyzed, but while the deal is

(06:33):
frozen, the motivations arebecoming clear.
While lawyers fight in public,the executives are fighting in
private.
An internal leak from WarnerBros.
this afternoon shows just howcynical this game really is.
According to leaked memos, thecurrent Warner Bros.
board is leaning toward theParamount deal.
Is it because it's better forthe company?

(06:56):
No.
Is it because it protects yourdata?
Definitely not.
The memo suggests that theParamount deal structure offers
massive golden parachute payoutsfor the current executives.
Netflix deal, by contrast,likely involves firing them.
This highlights the core themeof this show.
You are the product.

(07:18):
Your viewing habits, yoursubscription fees, and your
loyalty are just poker chips.
These executives are ready tosell you to a surveillance
algorithm, Netflix, or aforeign-backed conglomerate,
Paramount, based entirely on whowrites them the biggest personal
check.
It's always money.

(07:39):
Always is.
So where do we stand right now?
The deal is frozen, stocktrading is halted, and the
government is involved.
But no matter who wins this war,the era of cheap and open
streaming is dead.
Let's break it down a littlebit.
The first one, prices willcertainly soar.
Whether it's$82 billion or$108billion, someone has to pay that

(08:03):
bill.
Analysts predict subscriptionprices will likely jump to$30 or
$35 billion a month by 2027 tocover the debt.
The data will move.
When this merger eventuallyhappens, and it will, you will
get a terms of service updateemail.
Do not ignore it.
This is the moment they legallyclaim ownership of your data

(08:24):
under the new regime.
Number three, the culture willshrink.
We are watching theconsolidation of American
storytelling into fewer andfewer hands.
The third place of the movietheater is at risk.
Independent voices are at risk.

My advice (08:41):
if you love a movie, I'd go buy that physical copy.
Own it.
Because in the war for Warner,the only thing that matters to
these giants is owning you andyour data.
We'll keep track of this storyas it develops.
Thank you for listening toPrivacy Please.

(09:02):
I find this one fascinating.
Um there's a lot that goes intoit as this as this unfolds.
But once it does, we'll talk alittle bit deeper about what
that means for you and yourprivacy.
Until next time, everyone, thankyou so much for tuning in.
Don't forget to follow andsubscribe.
We'll see you on the next one.