Warner Bros. Slams Ellisons, Urges Investors to Reject Their Bid

The growing acrimony over the biggest deal in Hollywood is spilling into the open.

On Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., the parent of HBO and CNN, advised its shareholders to reject a hostile takeover bid by Paramount Skydance Corp. in favor of its original agreement with streaming giant Netflix Inc.

Counter-attacking publicly for the first time, Warner Bros. deemed the Paramount offer “inferior” and “inadequate.” The Warner Bros. board criticized Paramount’s backers, software billionaire Larry Ellison and his son David, saying they “consistently misled” them, and suggested their flawed vision for the combined assets would altogether weaken Hollywood. ...