00:00Actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming, and Benedict Wong are calling for the UK to block
00:05the Paramount-Warner Brothers merger in a new op-ed. The three actors argue that the deal
00:11threatens to inflict, quote, immense harm on the British public. In an op-ed piece titled,
00:16A TV and cinema calamity could be disastrous for what you watch and what you know.
00:21Act now to stop that. That was published by The Guardian. They wrote,
00:25As actors and public figures who have spent our careers in the arts in Britain,
00:28working with British crews on British stages and sets, we have a responsibility to the public who
00:34support, enjoy, and consume the art we make. The UK is being threatened by a media merger that would
00:39harm our workers, our culture, and the public, but we can stop it. They mentioned that they are
00:44encouraged by UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's statements that she wants to investigate the
00:48threat to public interest and acknowledged that she is not acting alone. This month, 12 US states,
00:54led by California, sued in federal court to block the merger. Over the weekend, news broke that David
00:59Ellison's Paramount agreed not to close the takeover until the court decides whether the deal violates
01:04antitrust laws. A spokesperson for the company said this is the, quote, fastest and clearest way to
01:09prove that this transaction is good for competition, good for consumers, and good for creators, a conclusion
01:14dozens of competition authorities around the world have already reached. But Cumberbatch,
01:18Cumming and Wong maintain that the filed lawsuit, quote, confirms the danger. It cannot, however,
01:23do the UK's work for it. They explained that the EU, which has conditionally backed the merger,
01:28makes its own decisions. They added that they have watched with, quote, growing alarm what
01:32consolidation does to the breadth and depth of the work we produce. They also said,
01:36actors are often told to stay out of legal arguments. We understand the instinct. But we have
01:41spent our lives on enough UK sets, worked alongside enough UK crews, and watched enough brilliant work
01:47from the UK struggle to find a buyer to know that this is not someone else's argument. It is ours.
01:52For much more on this story and more from the actor's op-ed, go to THR.com. This is the
01:57Hollywood
01:57Reporter News.
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