Paramount’s planned takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery inspired a protest letter with a list of signatures that’d make any autograph collector swoon. Yesterday, an ensemble cast of over 1,000 Hollywood creators—including dozens of A-listers like Ben Stiller, Joaquin Phoenix,​​ Kristen Stewart, and Tiffany Haddish—issued a statement expressing “unequivocal opposition” to the $111 billion deal.

The signatories maintain that further consolidation doesn’t herald a Hollywood ending for the film industry:

• They’re concerned it’ll lead to fewer movie releases, resulting in industry job losses and leaving audiences with less choice for entertainment.
• The letter notes that the merger “would reduce the number of US major film studios to just four.”

The concerns echo anxieties over Paramount’s plan to save investors $6 billion by eliminating duplication within the two companies, which has reportedly left Warner Bros. staff fearful of job cuts.

Paramount responded by saying that merging competencies will help the new megastudio compete and green-light more projects. It also reiterated CEO David Ellison’s vow that the merged behemoth would release at least 30 movies per year for the big screen.

It’s no golden age

Hollywood was worried even before the tectonic merger appeared on the seismographs. The amount of work available has already been reduced by productions moving to cheaper overseas locations and by streaming platforms prioritizing profitability over growing content libraries. The number of jobs in the industry has dropped by 30% since late 2022, according to government data.

The merger has also rankled pricey popcorn purveyors: Earlier this month, Cinema United, the trade group representing 31,000 US movie theater screens, asked state attorneys general to investigate the deal over competition concerns. The group said it worries fewer movie releases could endanger business—which is already struggling with weak box-office hauls.

Looking ahead…federal regulators are expected to green-light the merger, but state authorities could still challenge it. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has promised a “vigorous” review.—SK

Trump says Iran wants a deal on first day of US Hormuz blockade. As the US began its blockade of ships from Iranian ports in the globally important choke point, President Trump threatened that any Iranian ships would be “immediately ELIMINATED” in the same manner the US has attacked alleged drug boats. Iran responded that if its ports are threatened, “no port in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will be safe.” With a tenuous ceasefire still in place, Trump said Iran had reached out to seek a peace deal, something Iran did not immediately confirm. Vice President JD Vance, who was part of the recent talks, said yesterday that a deal was possible but “it’s up to the Iranians” to take the next step.

Goldman kicks off earnings season with a record quarter (that didn’t impress). Earnings season is officially here with Goldman Sachs reporting its Q1 numbers yesterday, and the rest of the big banks to follow. The investment bank’s profit jumped 19% to $5.63 billion, beating expectations as dealmaking and market volatility delivered Goldman’s second-best quarter ever for overall profit and revenue. But Goldman’s stock still fell nearly 2% as investors fretted over an unexpected drop in bond-trading revenue. CEO David Solomon criticized analysts for setting the bar too high.

Trump sparked controversy with Pope Leo feud and a Jesus-like AI image. President Trump faced backlash from some on the Christian right yesterday after beefing with the pontiff and briefly posting on Truth Social an image of himself that appeared to cast him as Jesus. The president criticized US-born Pope Leo XIV after the religious leader spoke out against the war in Iran, and the pope responded that he was “not afraid of the Trump administration” and would continue to spread the Gospel. Meanwhile, Trump also posted an AI-generated image that showed him in robes with light emanating from his hands tending to a sick man, but deleted it after it drew pushback. He said he thought the image portrayed him “as a doctor.”—AR

The biggest burger chain in the world will start selling energy drinks, refreshers, and dirty sodas at its US locations later this year, following its competitors’ leads into the booming market of fun little beverages, the Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the WSJ:

• New beverages include Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer, Mango Pineapple Refresher, and Dirty Dr. Pepper.
• McDonald’s plans to price the new items lower than competing drinks from Starbucks, Sonic, and other chains with footholds in the $100 billion global beverage market.

McDonald’s is leaning into drinks—which tend to have higher profit margins than food—at a time when diners are increasingly downsizing their meal portions and, separately, being influenced by Utah culture. Cream- and syrup-filled dirty sodas went viral in recent years, thanks to the drink’s original creator, the Utah-based beverage chain Swig, which was featured in the reality show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

McDonald’s is somewhat late to the drink craze. Sonic started letting customers “make it dirty” in 2024, and Taco Bell added dirty sodas to its permanent menu last month. Meanwhile, Starbucks launched extra caffeinated refreshers last week. McDonald’s previously tested the waters with CosMc’s, a specialty beverage drive-through that opened in 2023 but closed last year.—ML

The next time Meta lays off thousands of employees, they might get the news from an AI version of Mark Zuckerberg instead of the real guy. That’s because building an AI Zuck to interact with the workforce has become a company priority, according to the Financial Times.

Sources told the FT that a photorealistic AI Zuck is being trained on his mannerisms, tone, and public statements—like perhaps when he said the Metaverse would be the “next chapter for the internet”—so employees can interact with it and feel more connected to the CEO.

If it’s successful, one person told the FT, creators and influencers could use the same tech to make AI doppelgangers capable of selling supplements or gatekeeping restaurants on social media. Meta has already developed AI characters that look like celebrities, including tennis star Naomi Osaka (Tamika) and ex-Pepsi spokesperson Kendall Jenner (Billie).

This is different from Meta’s “CEO agent” project, which aims to create an AI assistant that would more quickly get information to Zuckerberg from employees, who have been encouraged to use agentic AI tools.

All-in on AI: Last week, Meta launched MuseSpark, its latest AI model, and announced it was allocating an additional $21 billion on AI cloud infrastructure with CoreWeave as it continues to chase AI rivals OpenAI and Google.—DL

Turns out that all that time listening to your cable company’s hold music can cost more than just your sanity. A new report puts the accumulated cost of the “annoyance economy”—a term for fraught everyday interactions like dealing with spam, robocalls, hidden fees, insurance claims, and subscription cancellations—at $165 billion, according to the New York Times.

The report’s authors, Stanford economist Neale Mahoney and Chad Maisel, a policy fellow at the progressive Groundwork Collaborative (who together worked in the Biden administration to try to tackle junk fees), say that while some of these nuisances result from outdated systems and regulations, others are there on purpose. Mahoney and fellow researchers have concluded that companies that make it difficult to end subscriptions earn anywhere from 14% to 200% more in revenue. So, perhaps keep that in mind as motivation to persevere the next time you find yourself repeatedly shouting “representative.”—AR