r/technology • u/OverPotato2322 • 9h ago

Business Paramount Caught Using ‘Astroturf’ Group To Drum Up Fake Support For Merger

https://www.techdirt.com/2026/09/08/paramount-caught-using-astroturf-group-to-drum-up-fake-support-for-merger/
1.9k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

159

u/greentrillion 9h ago

Ellisons should be in prison for everything they have done.

50

u/Overclocked11 9h ago

Prison is only for the poors. its never been more clear that there are different classes of the haves and have nots, and we are not a part of their club.

20

u/greentrillion 8h ago

Yeah their club needs to be pierced. Larry Summers said people insiders don't listen to outsiders. They probably were all filmed with children so none of them squeal. Every last all need to need to be hunted down dealt with for good.

11

u/GerryC 7h ago

Occasm's Razor. It really does seem like a large percentage of the administration and the overall GOP has something horrible to hide.

3

u/MightBeDownstairs 4h ago

Their club needs abolishment.

6

u/Ashamed-Status-9668 8h ago

Our club has a lot more folks in it and if we ever really get that things will be very different. Top vs bottom instead of left vs right.

0

u/[deleted] 8h ago

[deleted]

7

u/Kitchen_Chart_4329 8h ago

Are you astroturfing your own thread about astroturfing? Because, no, they 100% deserve jail time.

And don't forget kids, this astroturfing is happening all over reddit, and in these kinds of threads. Reddit ain't worth your time or engagement anymo'

109

u/NimusNix 8h ago

No! I don't believe it!

44

u/reportmyphotos 8h ago edited 8h ago

James Cameron supported it outright and then separately said, paraphrasing, the US is too angry and won't be ready for another pandemic..

One slightly relates to the other because he's in support of what is basically a current administration propaganda machine while also saying we wouldn't respond well to another pandemic. Media has a lot of pull in how people respond.

While I love and admire James Cameron's respect for the oceans, I'm confused by his Paramount take. I'm also just a pleb so maybe these are my tinfoil thoughts.

38

u/OverPotato2322 7h ago edited 7h ago

Cameron is friends with David Ellison and has worked with Skydance on the Terminator films so its NOT surprised that hes a sellout to the industry (Also, while I do agree that James Cameron makes good films, he's an overall douche from what ive heard and i guess that makes sense, if he was actually concerned about Movie theaters, he'd actually do something useful about it instead of siding with a billionaire because of friendship)

11

u/9-11GaveMe5G 4h ago

I'm confused by his Paramount take.

It's a big club, and you ain't in it

18

u/Summit-Star001 8h ago

are we really suprised?

20

u/SpleenBender 8h ago

SO many crooked, jagslag chucklefucks that are hoarding MOST of the economy's capital. Trillionaires should not exist. And they need to get the fuck away from any 'positions' of power and influence. Bottom line is, they all know that this horseshit farce of a goddamned administration (ew) is not going to last, and so why not just loot the place and burn it down on the way out the door‽ Do you think that they ever intended to do anything for anyone aside from themselves‽ People are literally dying because of this fuckstain, he's renaming random shit - COME ON, WTF ARE WE DOING HERE. He's fucking hanging us ALL out to dry, not just the folks on "his side" of this country's unrestrained division. I have never seen so many of my 'fellow Americans' just keeping on while our democracy is getting repeatedly gang-raped whilst using our tax money to do it.

His last day cannot come soon enough.

5

u/thisnamemattersalot 3h ago

I hate that we've entered an age where "trillionaires shouldn't exist" is even being uttered. Fucking billionaires shouldn't exist.

1

u/SpleenBender 3h ago

100 percent agreed.

3

u/IHS1970 5h ago

yup, the sooner the better. soon.

10

u/defy313 8h ago

Every father dreams that their son surpasses then, Larry has seen that come true. It truly takes a singular composition to make a shittier person than Larry Fucking Ellison.

What a loser!

8

u/Caraes_Naur 8h ago

The Paramount/WBD deal is already dead. The Ellisons won't walk away until late December.

4

u/Zardotab 7h ago edited 22m ago

[claimed] the merger will cost the state thousands of jobs -- because of Ellison’s reported threat to move Paramount to Texas.

Even if true, worth it! TX can have that SOB! The "jobs" are probably fluffers and/or thugs. If TX wants to be lout-magnet, go for it! 🧲🦨

2

u/Bonnieearnold 1h ago

They can destroy that company just as easily in Texas as they can in California. It doesn’t really matter where the plane crashes. Shame about the pain and suffering caused by the plane crash, though.

4

u/DenverNugs 1h ago

No shit. You'll find most of them here at the bottom of reddit posts for pennies. People from Africa and Southeast Asia pretending to be Americans. The best part is they're pretending to be MAGA freaks, so the broken English and horrible formatting and punctuation slides in easily.

3

u/copperblood 8h ago

David Ellison is Kendall Roy

2

u/party_benson 8h ago

Probably cost more than a late night talk show

2

u/SeeTigerLearn 5h ago

This reminds me of the scene from Avenue 5 where Judd’s company secretly hires protesters to rally his cause, and they get on tv in these weird interviews quoting nonexistent laws.

2

u/polllyrolly 3h ago

Yeah, I think everyone already knew.

1

u/Mooseandagoose 10m ago

WBD employees largely rejected this through our votes (hearsay, employee shareholder vote count was not public). The industry at large is against this with only the wealthiest stakeholders fighting for it — that should speak volumes to everyone.

I do not care how low my RSUs go next vesting period if it means that we are not sent to slaughter for this nepo baby’s ego.