Senate Grilling of Netflix Turned into a Culture-War Shouting Match

CNN, BBC, NBC News, and the New York Times contributed to this report.

What was supposed to be an antitrust hearing on Netflix’s blockbuster bid for Warner Bros. turned into something else: a shouting match about “wokeness.” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos spent hours in front of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee trying to sell the deal – and wound up slugging it out with conservatives who accused the streamer of pushing politically charged content.

Lawmakers did raise the predictable antitrust concerns – job losses, higher prices, and what the merger would mean for movie theaters. Sarandos tried to reassure them: Netflix would keep a 45-day theatrical window, run Warner largely as is, and argue that combining the two companies would put more content in viewers’ hands, not less. He said the deal will “create more economic growth” and stressed Netflix has programming “left, right and center.”

But a chunk of the Republicans on the panel steered the conversation into culture-war territory. Sen. Eric Schmitt blasted Netflix for producing “the wokest content in the history of the world,” while Sen. Josh Hawley claimed Netflix’s kids’ shows promote “transgender ideology” – a line Sarandos called inaccurate. Those attacks echoed a well-worn MAGA narrative pushed by influencers and some allies of President Trump, and they may foreshadow how the administration could try to block the deal.

Democrats were no pushovers either. Sen. Cory Booker warned that either the Netflix or rival Paramount Skydance bid would concentrate too much power over what Americans see and hear, and he called it “frustrating” that Paramount CEO David Ellison declined to testify. Several senators from both parties pressed Sarandos on whether the tie-up would really benefit workers and consumers.

The regulatory picture is messy. The DOJ is reviewing the deal, and regulators in the UK and EU are expected to scrutinize it too – while Paramount Skydance keeps pressing a competing offer. Sarandos tried to put a positive spin on the politics: he said he’d briefly discussed the industry and the deal with President Trump at a White House meeting last year but insisted politics won’t drive the antitrust review.

For all the theater and rhetoric, Sarandos kept circling back to the same pitch: Netflix wants the studios and HBO Max to expand production, protect jobs and give customers more choice. Opponents say the real risk is a giant gatekeeper that could squeeze creators and viewers. The Writers Guild and other industry groups have already warned the merger could hurt wages and jobs.

Bottom line: the hearing underscored that this fight won’t just be fought in legal filings – it’s political and cultural, too. Sarandos survived the day without any knockout answers, but the session showed how ugly and unpredictable the path to approval will be. Regulators have months of digging ahead – and the TV-era culture wars just found a new battleground.