{"id":484568,"date":"2026-02-22T22:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T22:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/484568\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T22:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T22:29:08","slug":"doj-probes-netflix-leverage-over-creators-in-antitrust-wb-deal-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/484568\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Probes Netflix Leverage Over Creators In Antitrust WB Deal Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAfter months of jabs and feints, the white gloves may have truly come off in Netflix<\/a> and Paramount<\/a>\u2018s multibillion-dollar battle for control of Warner Bros<\/a>. Discovery.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith just 24 hours left to go on the WBD board\u2019s weeklong talks <\/a>with the David Ellison<\/a>-owned company and its \u201cbest and final offer\u201d in the $108 billion hostile takeover bid over rival Netflix, the Ted Sarandos<\/a> and Greg Peters-run streamer now finds itself in the Department of Justice<\/a>\u2018s antitrust grip. <\/p>\n

\n\tSpecifically, adding months and months to any final deal for either side, Attorney General Pam Bondi<\/a>\u2018s crew want to know exactly how much real leverage Netflix has over the industry. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis civil investigative demand is issued pursuant to the Antitrust Civil Process Act \u2026in the course of an antitrust investigation to determine whether there is, has been, or may be a violation of the antitrust laws by conduct, activities, or proposed action of the following nature: the proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. by Netflix Inc, that may substantially lessen competition, or tend to create a monopoly in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, or Section 2 of the Sherman Act,\u201d the DOJ\u2019s Antitrust Division\u2019s acting boss Omeed Assefi\u00a0(who just over a week ago replaced the suddenly exiting<\/a> Abigail Slater<\/a>) declared in a salvo sent out over the past 48 hours to filmmakers and producers all over town.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tRecipients of the DOJ CID have until March 23 to provide documents and sworn responses to the feds. <\/p>\n

\n\tTellingly, as Paramount continues to pursue legal action over the merger, that date will come three days after the March 20 special meeting of WBD<\/a> shareholders to vote on David Zaslav and other board members\u2019 recommendation to embrace Netflix\u2019s $83 billion acquisition <\/a>of WB\u2019s studio and streaming crown jewels.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is going nuclear stuff, though not surprising, \u201d a producer who received the CID for \u201cdocumentary material and written interrogatories\u201d tells Deadline. \u201cNetflix\u2019s going to get a lot bigger with Warner. Trump himself said that out loud.<\/a> So c\u2019mon, what did anyone expect?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the red carpet today in London for the BAFTAs, Sarandos blasted <\/a>Paramount: \u201cJust put a better deal on the table and see if you can win.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor the record, Section 2 of the Sherman Act states:<\/a> \u201cEvery person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $100,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $1,000,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the CID itself was sent out on February 20, the probe itself has been underway for about three weeks, well-positioned sources say. <\/p>\n

\n\tThat would put the DOJ antitrust investigation starting around the time an anti-Netflix report by a Heritage Foundation spin-off<\/a> was sent to GOP senators and MAGA loyalists early this month. The timing would also set the Justice Department action kicking off as a heavily-grilled Sarandos testified in D.C. on February 3 <\/a>before the subcommittee chaired by a combative Sen. Mike Lee<\/a> (R-UT) on the WB merger.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNetflix operates in an extremely competitive market,\u201d is the official word this weekend from David Hyman, Netflix\u2019s top legal beagle. \u201cAny claim that it is a monopolist, or seeking to monopolize, is unfounded,\u201d the streamer\u2019s Chief Legal Officer said late Saturday as news of the DOJ CID was first confirmed by Bloomberg. \u201cOur success stems from innovation and investment that benefit consumers. We neither hold monopoly power nor engage in exclusionary conduct and we\u2019ll gladly cooperate, as we always do, with regulators on any concerns they may have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tReps for the DOJ, WB and Paramount did not respond to Deadline\u2019s requests for comment on the CID. Behind the scenes at Netflix, execs aren\u2019t sweating the probe that much, I hear. Taking it on the chin as a routine part of the regulatory and political process, they anticipated such a third party info accumulation as part of the requirements of the DOJ\u2019s 2023 Merger Guidelines initiative<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tNetflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights on Feb. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n

\n\tSarandos himself has insisted over and over publicly the past few months that even with HBO Max\u2019s 128 million subscribers in its arsenal, the streamer would be \u201cnowhere near a monopoly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFacing accusations of \u201cpromoting DEI and wokeness,\u201d slings and more culture war arrows from Republican senators <\/a>on the antitrust subcommittee at a February 3 hearing with WBD, the co-CEO, alongside WBD Chief Revenue Officer Bruce Campbell, stated he had \u201cconfidence in this case on the merits and that it will be run by the Department of Justice.\u201d Already the most subscribed streamer on the planet with 325 million paying customers, Netflix has also denied that it is under any Sherman Act probe in its pursuit of WB and its dust-ups with Paramount.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn fact, late Saturday they were still publicly saying they hadn\u2019t seen any DOJ CID paperwork. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe have not been given any notice or seen any other sign that the DOJ is conducting a monopolization investigation,\u201d asserted the wonderfully named Steve Sunshine, Netflix\u2019s outside counsel and the head of law firm Skadden\u2019s Global Antitrust\/Competition Group.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe wild card in all this is, as with almost everything in America and on Planet Earth nowadays, Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tPOTUS has been sending even more mixed signals publicly than usual in the fight for Warner Bros. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn a pre-Super Bowl interview, Trump told NBC\u2019s Tom Llamas he \u201cshouldn\u2019t be involved\u201d <\/a>in deciding who gets WBD (and hence, the fate of CNN). <\/p>\n

\n\tThe former Apprentice host has also praised and distanced himself from his \u201cfriends\u201d and as \u201cbig supporters of mine\u201d David Ellison and his Oracle founder father Larry Ellison. Trump has met repeatedly with the Ellisons at the White House over the past few months and, this weekend, raged <\/a>against Netflix board member and ex-Obama staffer Susan Rice. Yet, Trump has also lathered Sarandos as a game changer and \u201cgreat person.\u201d Sarandos, who has been very complimentary to Trump of late, sat down with POTUS on November 24, just before the WBD board accepted Netflix\u2019s offer for most of their company. <\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tNow, with the DOJ\u2019s civil investigative demand, the realpolitik of this merger battle has been unsheathed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After months of jabs and feints, the white gloves may have truly come off in Netflix and Paramount\u2018s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[223100,18205,17985,12,88,11812,217,17204,3131,4208,77953,5251,20007],"class_list":["post-484568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-abigail-slater","tag-david-ellison","tag-department-of-justice","tag-donald-trump","tag-entertainment","tag-mike-lee","tag-netflix","tag-novid","tag-pam-bondi","tag-paramount","tag-ted-sarandos","tag-warner-bros","tag-wbd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}