JUST IN: Controversial $8 Billion Paramount-Skydance Merger Closes

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The controversial $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance closed on Thursday morning after months of debate over it.

President Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission needed to sign off on the deal for it to go through, and Paramount agreed earlier this year to a multimillion-dollar settlement to what most legal experts believed was a frivolous lawsuit filed against it by Trump.

The lawsuit pertained to an interview of former Vice President Kamala Harris, then the Democratic presidential nominee running against Trump, on CBS News’ 60 Minutes last year.

Paramount has faced significant criticism for what many industry insiders perceived as caving to Trump to secure approval of the deal.

High-profile Paramount talent, including the South Park team and comedian Jon Stewart, have been highly critical of their corporate bosses’ handling of the matter.

“The fact that CBS didn’t try to save their number one rated network late-night franchise that’s been on the air for over three decades is part of what’s making everybody wonder, was this purely financial?” asked Stewart facetiously after CBS announced it was canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where its eponymous host was highly critical of Trump. “Or maybe the path of least resistance for your $8 billion merger with killing a show that you know rankled a fragile and vengeful president, so insecure, suffering terribly from a case of chronic penis insufficiency.”

In defense of its decision to shelve The Late Show, Paramount cited its troubling financial performance; it was reportedly losing the company $40-$50 million a year.

With the merger now official, David Ellison will take control of the new entity, with Shari Redstone stepping aside from her role at the helm of Paramount.