Paramount Shareholders Accuse Ellisons of ‘Illegal’ Trump Deal in 4th Lawsuit

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

David and Larry Ellison were named in a fourth lawsuit filed Tuesday by Paramount shareholders in an attempt to stop an impending merger between the company and Warner Bros. Discovery. The father-son pair was accused of striking a deal with President Donald Trump based on what the lawsuit called an “illegal bribery scheme.”

In a lawsuit filed in Delaware Chancery Court and reviewed by Mediaite, the shareholders claimed the Ellisons also promised widespread changes to CNN to get the merger approved by the president. The deal allegedly also includes a guarantee of up to $20 million in free advertising and an additional $16 million paid to Trump.

The suit claims that the merger going through “would allow Paramount fiduciaries to profit from an illegal bribery scheme in breach of their fiduciary duties of loyalty to Paramount and otherwise in violation of bedrock Delaware corporate law.”

“The media has widely reported that Lawrence and David Ellison promised illegal, private benefits to President Trump in exchange for approval of their last media mega-merger. Specifically, in order to ensure federal regulatory approval of the merger between Ellison-controlled Skydance Media, LLC (“Skydance”) and Paramount, the Ellisons promised President Trump up to $20 million in free advertising and reportedly encouraged Paramount’s prior ownership to settle a frivolous lawsuit the President had filed against CBS (owned by
Paramount) in his personal capacity—effectively laundering a $16 million payment to President Trump through the courts,” added the filing.

The $16 million payment stems from a settlement previously agreed to by the former ownership as part of a lawsuit Trump filed against CBS over a Kamala Harris interview. The $20 million figure appears to stem from Trump’s claim that he struck a “side deal” with David Ellison soon after the CBS lawsuit was settled and claimed Paramount said the company would “provide an additional $15 to $20 million worth of advertising to promote causes important to the president.”

Variety reported at the time, July of 2025, “Trump now claims the settlement over his ’60 Minutes’ lawsuit is worth ‘over $36 million’ in total. Earlier this month, he told reporters that the settlement was worth ‘like $32 [million] to maybe $35 million.’”

“Executives at Paramount were under the belief that settling President Trump’s lawsuit was a prerequisite for the FCC to clear the merger with Skydance and began negotiating a high-stakes settlement with President Trump in hopes of clearing the path for regulatory approval,” the lawsuit adds.

David Ellison reportedly “grew frustrated” by having to wait for regulatory approval and was spotted with Trump at a UFC event in April 2025—near the same time he allegedly “called Barbara Byrne, then a Paramount director, expressing his frustration that the lawsuit had not settled because he was eager for the merger to close.”

Paramount announced it would settle Trump’s lawsuit via a $16 million payment to a future foundation months later in July, despite the fact that “Paramount Global officials voiced their concerns that such a payment ‘could be legally construed as a bribe.'” The Trump Library Foundation “subsequently dissolved,” and “the ultimate beneficiary of Paramount’s settlement payment is unclear.”

The filing comes after others made by the Attorneys General of twelve states, as well as the Writers Guild of America and Paramount+ subscribers.

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