Corporate malpractice allegation hits Paramount as Mark Ruffalo renews attack: "Paramount cannot be trusted"

On September 9, 2026 , Mark Ruffalo reignited his fight with Paramount on X, sharing a Techdirt report that accuses the studio of trying to gin up fake grassroots support for its proposed tie-up with Warner Bros. Discovery. In his post, he linked to the piece and leveled a blunt charge at the company.

“Paramount cannot be trusted. They just don’t act in good faith on any level.”

Techdirt’s write-up, citing reporting from The Intercept, says a nonprofit called Neighbors for Strong Communities has been texting Californians to pressure state Attorney General Rob Bonta to drop an antitrust lawsuit tied to the merger effort. The campaign, per those reports, is an “astroturf” push — a manufactured show of public enthusiasm designed to look like a grassroots movement.

• Texts allegedly framed antitrust enforcement as harmful to Californians, according to The Intercept.
• The effort was reportedly aimed at creating the appearance of broad public backing for the merger.
• The messaging was tied to the fight over Bonta’s antitrust case, per the reports.

Ruffalo’s latest post follows a summer of back-and-forth. As he publicly criticized consolidation, Paramount fired back, accusing the actor of leaning on discriminatory tropes in his commentary — a shot that turned a policy debate into a personal feud.

Critics have also pointed to other flashpoints around the deal, including reporting that the company or its allies have floated moving operations out of California if antitrust enforcement proceeds, and PR efforts touting the benefits of more consolidation. Those claims have been described in coverage by Techdirt and others.

Opposition isn’t limited to high-profile actors. The Writers Guild of America has come out against the merger, and a coalition of twelve state attorneys general is also opposing it. For the guild, the stakes include pay, residuals, and how many projects actually make it to production.