Exclusive | Hollywood actors’ union could strike over Netflix-WBD

Exclusive | Hollywood actors’ union could strike over Netflix-WBD

Hollywood actors could go on strike over the deliberate Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery tie-up, with their commerce union secretly plotting a doable work stoppage in the New Year over fears the merger could drive down pay and cut back jobs, The Post has discovered.

Two sources near its top brass said the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, more widely recognized by the acronym SAG-AFTRA, “is building a war room to oppose this merger.”

“They believe that it’s bad for their members and it’s bad for consumers,” one insider told The Post. “A strike is not off the table if things heat up.”

Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists management “is building a war room” to fight a Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery mixture, sources told The Post. GC Images

A spokesperson for Netflix told The Post that the streaming large has “been in touch with all of the guilds” that characterize Hollywood employees. A WBD spokesperson didn’t reply to a request for remark.

SAG-AFTRA represents roughly 160,000 workers in the leisure business.

Any potential action called by the union over the Netflix-WBD deal could deliver Hollywood film and TV productions to a grinding halt.

“Leadership of SAG is working very hard to build a campaign,” the particular person briefed on the matter said. “It could expand soon to members who have a vested interest in coming out against this proposal.”

A separate source near the state of affairs added: “There is no timeline as yet, and there is no motion to ballot so far. But they are going to ramp up their opposition to this deal in the first quarter of 2026.”

Pamela Greenwalt, a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson, told The Post: “We haven’t taken any place on the merger yet, other than that it requires cautious review and analysis which is in progress. Any place we take might be decided based on the best pursuits of SAG-AFTRA members.

“Our TV/theatrical/streaming contract is bargained with an industrywide group, and issues that are individual to specific studios are generally not a part of that process,” she added.

Netflix would achieve management of WBD’s huge library of content, including the HBO catalog, the Warner Bros. movie archive, and DC Comics properties, if the deal is profitable. Getty Images

The union warned on Dec. 5 that the transaction “raises many serious questions about its impact on the future of the entertainment industry, and especially the human creative talent whose livelihoods and careers depend on it.”

A profitable acquisition would give Netflix management over WBD’s huge library of content, including the complete HBO catalog, the Warner Bros. movie archive, and DC Comics properties.

A four-month walkout by actors in 2023 was the longest strike for TV and movie actors in historical past, suspending work on a string of blockbusters, including “Gladiator II,” Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice” sequel.

Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos struck a deal on Dec. 5 that valued WBD’s streaming and studio belongings at $72 billion. REUTERS

One SAG-AFTRA member, talking on condition of anonymity, said the in style streaming service becoming a member of forces with WBD would “create a monopoly,” and that there have been already “rumblings” in LA about a strike.

The TV star claimed the deliberate tie-up “concentrates too much power in the hands of a single company, weakening actors’ bargaining leverage and accelerating the erosion of residual pay that many performers depend on to survive between jobs.”

Residual checks are made over the long run to actors and other theatrical employees when a TV present or film is rerun or aired after its authentic release. Hollywood insiders worry the streaming large will lower prices by slashing those funds. That view is strongly contested by senior Netflix sources.

SAG earlier this month warned that the deal “raises many serious questions about its impact on the future of the entertainment industry.” AFP through Getty Images

Netflix, led by co-CEO Ted Sarandos, struck a $27.75-per-share cash-and-stock deal on Dec. 5 that valued WBD’s streaming and studio belongings at $72 billion.

But WBD CEO David Zaslav has repeatedly rebuffed rival bidder Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, despite being provided a multimillion-dollar compensation package deal if he agreed to a deal.

The board rejected Paramount’s $78 billion hostile bid for the complete company on Wednesday, according to a regulatory submitting, saying it failed to offer sufficient financing assurances.

WBD CEO David Zaslav has repeatedly rebuffed rival bidder Paramount Skydance, despite being provided a multimillion-dollar compensation package deal if he agreed to a deal. Getty Images

In a letter to shareholders, WBD’s top brass wrote that Paramount had “consistently misled” WBD shareholders that its $30-per-share money supply was absolutely assured, or “backstopped,” by the Ellison household, led by billionaire and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

The tie-up would give the new company, which would come with HBO Max, 35% of all streaming hours, according to John M. Yun, a professor of regulation at the Antonin Scalia Law School of George Mason University.

That would put this deal on the radar of US officers, with President Trump already indicating that the big market share “could be a problem.”

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison’s $78 billion hostile bid was rejected by WBD’s board last week. REUTERS

Sources near the state of affairs have also indicated that the European Union’s government arm, the European Commission, will carefully scrutinize the takeover.

Brussels bureaucrats haven’t shied away from slapping multimillion-dollar fines on US tech giants and even blocking some M&A transactions outright.

“What some might not realize is that European regulators have significant power when it comes to mergers,” said Laura Houlgatte Abbott, CEO of the International Union of Cinemas, a commerce physique that represents 43,500 film theaters across 39 international locations.

“We will ensure our concerns are heard by the EU’s antitrust authorities,” she told The Post.

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