controversial

Paramount Skydance’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery cleared a major hurdle Thursday as Warner stockholders overwhelmingly embraced the $111-billion deal.

Approval was expected. Paramount Chairman David Ellison’s proposal would pay Warner investors $31 a share — four times the price of the company’s stock a year ago. Warner Bros. officials did not disclose the precise vote count during the nine-minute special shareholder meeting beyond saying the merger “received sufficient votes and has overwhelmingly passed.”

Paramount offered the generous premium to compete with, and ultimately triumph over, Netflix, which withdrew from the auction in late February after Ellison’s father, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, agreed to guarantee the financing of his son’s deal.

The merger would create a new Hollywood behemoth by giving Paramount, which owns CBS and the Melrose Avenue film studio, such valuable assets as HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TBS, Food Network and Warner Bros.’ film and television studios in Burbank. Warner controls beloved TV shows, franchises and movies, including “Casablanca,” Harry Potter, D.C. Comics, “Game of Thrones,” “Euphoria,” “The Pitt,” and “Rooster.”

“Shareholder approval marks another important milestone towards completing our acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, building on our successful equity and debt syndications and progress across regulatory approvals,” Paramount said Thursday in a statement. “We look forward to closing the transaction in the coming months and realizing the creation of a next-generation media and entertainment company that better serves both the creative community and consumers.”

Paramount now must secure regulatory approvals in the U.S. and abroad. Ellison, who is poised to honor President Trump with a dinner Thursday evening in Washington, hopes to complete the deal by late summer.

Shareholders, however, made known their disdain for Warner Chief Executive David Zaslav’s proposed golden parachute, which could swell to $887 million, depending on when the transaction closes. His cash, stock and options would be valued at more than $550 million. Warner board members also agreed to pay his tax bill, which could approach $330 million, should the merger be completed by year’s end.

Shareholders, in a non-binding vote, voted against Zaslav’s package.

Paramount’s deal has encountered significant opposition in Hollywood and beyond.

More than 4,000 filmmakers, actors and industry workers, including Ben Stiller, Bryan Cranston, Ted Danson, J.J. Abrams and Kristen Stewart have signed an open letter asking California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and other regulators to block the deal.

Opponents fear the consolidation would be lead to massive layoffs and diminish the quality of programming that Warner Bros., CNN and HBO are known for. Hollywood has sustained thousands of layoffs over the last six years; the film production economy hasn’t recovered from shutdowns during the 2023 labor strikes.

“This is already an incredibly consolidated industry where writers have seen merger after merger leave fewer and fewer companies in control of what our members can get paid to write,” Michele Mulroney, president of the Writers Guild of America West, said Wednesday during a press briefing organized by Free Press and other progressive groups that oppose the merger.

“A combined Warner Bros. and Paramount would create a media behemoth with tremendous leverage to reduce content, to raise prices, to increase control of production, to suppress member compensation, worsen working conditions and silence the voices of our members,” Mulroney said.

Trump has long agitated for changes at CNN, and few expect his Justice Department to block the transaction. Defense Department Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed the sentiment. “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network the better,” Hegseth told reporters in March.

It’s unclear whether Bonta or other state attorney generals will file a lawsuit to try to stop the deal. Bonta previously told The Times that his office is reviewing the consolidation.

“This deal can get blocked. I personally think it will get blocked — or undone,” Alvaro Bedoya, former Federal Trade Commission member who now serves as a senior adviser to the American Economic Liberties Project, told reporters Wednesday. He pointed to other proposed mergers that unraveled due to fierce opposition, including the proposed combinations of grocery giants Kroger and Albertson’s.

David Ellison has promised to keep HBO entact and the Paramount and Warner Bros. movie studios humming. He promised cinema owners last week that a combined Paramount-Warner Bros. would release 30 movies into theaters each year.

“This transaction uniquely brings together complementary strengths to create a company that can greenlight more projects, back bold ideas, support talent across multiple stages of their careers,” Paramount said in a statement to push back on the opposition. The company would have the power to “bring stories to audiences at a truly global scale — while strengthening competition by ensuring multiple scaled players are investing in creative talent.”

To finance the Warner takeover, Ellison’s billionaire father, Larry Ellison, has agreed to guarantee the $45.7 billion in equity needed. Bank of America, Citibank and Apollo Global have agreed to provide Paramount with more than $54 billion in debt financing.

Paramount has enlisted a former Trump administration official, lawyer Makan Delrahim, who served as Trump’s antitrust chief during the president’s first term.

In a confident move, Delrahim filed to win the Justice Department’s blessing in December — even though Paramount didn’t have an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery’s board at the time. In February, a key deadline for the Justice Department to raise issues with Paramount’s proposed Warner takeover passed without comment from the Trump regulators.

CHLOE Ferry has been criticised by fans and animal charity Peta after her boyfriend surprised her with a new French bulldog puppy.

The Geordie Shore star’s dog Ivy died in October leaving her devastated. In a bid to cheer Chloe up, her boyfriend Alex Swinney bought her a pup she’s named Olive.

Seeing her other dog Narla playing with the new addition immediately brightened Chloe’s mood and she told fans: “After losing my baby Ivy I wasn’t sure I was ready but my boyfriend SURPRISED me with this little one.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally see Narla with her spark back again, just seeing her play has fulfilled my heart so much.

“From grieving to growing she accepted her new sister right away meet baby OLIVE.”

While many fans heaped praise on her property developer partner for the gift and complimented the cute pup, others, including charity Peta, made their reservations known.

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The animal charity commented: “Your boyfriend needs to rethink this. French bulldogs struggle to just breathe, let alone live a happy and healthy life.

“Buying one neglects the tens of thousands of homeless dogs in shelters just waiting to be adopted [broken heart emoji] Tell him to adopt next time.”

Others echoed the sentiment, with one writing: “Puppies are cute, but so, so sad to see people buying breeds with breathing impairments who will never be able to fully enjoy what it means to be a dog. Please stop buying and promoting breathing impaired breeds

“Blue is one of the worst choices when it comes to health issues…”

Another said: “Frenchies can barely breathe, and buying one keeps it going. Shelters are full [broken heart emoji] Adopt next time.”

A third wrote: “If you buy a Frenchie you are asking for heartache. The breeds are not meant to mix and that causes defects. It’s sad but true. Its unfortunate they have become the ultimate chav accessory. Poor babies.”

French Bulldogs are renowned for having breathing difficulties due to the way they’re bred to have flat faces.

They have greater chance of contracting a variety of health conditions and, according to Peta, brachycephalic dogs (flattened faces) have, on average, 40 per cent shorter lifespans than other dogs.

They also struggle to give birth due to the large shape of their heads and narrow hips.

Meanwhile, when Ivy died, Chloe told her followers that the pooch “couldn’t stop being sick” prior to its passing.

She wrote: “Pftt, losing a pet is so hard, it’s just like a human and it [the emotion] comes in waves when you least expect it.

“One day you’re alright the next you’re not.

“Today I’ve just tried to get on with jobs, my house has been a mess, so I’ve tried to clean it.

“It has actually made us feel a little bit better but then you sit and overthink everything, and think could I have done more.

“What makes it worse for me, my other dog Narla, she doesn’t understand.

“I had Ivy first so Ivy was always independent, she didn’t need Narla, but Narla came second and needs Ivy.”

The measure has long been criticised for allowing US intelligence agencies to collect citizen data without a warrant.

The United States Congress has temporarily extended a controversial surveillance law which allows federal intelligence agencies to collect the data of foreigners, including their contacts with US citizens.

The move allows a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to continue until April 30. The short-term extension was passed by the House of Representatives and approved by the Senate on Friday.

The patch comes after President Donald Trump’s efforts to secure a more lasting extension broke down.

Section 702 of FISA allows the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence services to collect data from foreigners outside of the country.

That could include their interactions with US citizens, a prospect that has alarmed rights advocates.

Collecting such data, which can include correspondence on email and telecommunications platforms, typically requires a warrant approved by a court.

The process has been described by critics as a “backdoor search” that circumvents existing privacy laws.

Speaking after Friday’s vote, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said there was still some openness to reforming the law.

“We’ve got to pivot and figure out what can pass, and we’re in the process ⁠of figuring out how to do that here,” he told reporters.

Supporters of reform, who stretch across party lines, have long sought to repeal or amend Section 702.

While FISA was initially passed in 1978, Section 702 was added as an amendment in 2008.

The addition came amid the US’s “global war on terror”. But during its approval, revelations emerged that the administration of former US President George W Bush had already used the tactics Section 702 legalised.

Supporters, including Trump, maintain that reforming the provision would lead to a lapse in national security.

“I have spoken with many in our Military who say FISA is necessary in order to protect our Troops overseas, as well as our people here at home, from the threat of Foreign Terror Attacks,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.

He has pushed for the law to be extended for 18 months without changes. That effort initially appeared on track in the House but was ultimately scuttled by pushback from within Trump’s own Republican Party.

Among the detractors was Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, who has been a regular critic of Trump.

“I will be voting NO on final passage of the FISA 702 Reauthorization Bill if it does not include a warrant provision and other reforms to protect US citizens’ right to privacy,” he wrote ahead of the House vote.

INFLUENCER Molly-Mae Hague has addressed Tommy Fury’s controversial fight date.

She has also detailed the horrible experience she endured when she was left alone after welcoming her first baby.

Earlier this year, the influencer, 26, announced that she and Tommy Fury are expecting their second child together.

She has now opened up about Tommy’s controversial fight date and what she really thinks about it.

Tommy will return to the boxing ring on June 13 in Manchester in a fight against former World’s Strongest Man Eddie Hall. 

Molly’s baby is due around the same time as Tommy’s fight, with her now opening up about it all candidly in a Q&A video on YouTube.

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“A lot of questions about how do you feel about Tommy’s fight and obviously the date of it,” she said in her vlog.

“Obviously I knew that you guys were going to like be concerned about that and have questions about that, but fear not.

:Fear not fair maiden because we’re actually feeling really, really good about it and have a really good plan in place.”

She went on: “There’s actually like a good amount of time between my birth, my supposed birth because basically I’m having the baby in London again.

“So I gave birth with Bambi at The Portland.

“I’m not worried and I’m actually really, really happy that he’s got a fight because it’s been over a year since his last fight.”

She trailed off and spoke about how “difficult” it is to get a fight date secured, adding: “So just having a date for something and and having a focus and us having like I don’t know something to look forward to in the fight like it’s just I think it’s actually a really, really, really positive thing and he will be here when I get home.

“He will be able to support me.”

She then spoke about the horrendous situation after she had given birth last time, saying: “It’s not going to be anything like the the last time.

“I mean that was a very, very bespoke and ridiculous situation to have one of like the most high pressure fights.

“Like there was so much pressure on him for the Jake Paul fight.

“It was just mental and obviously it was our first baby. I just given birth and he was literally going to Saudi and it was it was really hard.

“But this time round it’s not going to be anything like that.

“He will be at home. He will be living at home. He will be having his camp at home. We’re actually feeling really, really good about it.

“So, no concerns over here. We’re in a really, really great place. Everything feels, almost just feel like a little bit too good to be true.”

Molly also explained how she has no birth plan other than to hopefully have an epidural.

She also explained how she hopes not to have a C-section.

City Councilmember Nithya Raman came out ahead of incumbent Karen Bass in a new poll on the Los Angeles mayor’s race, though the poll’s director cautioned that it did not give the whole picture.

Raman had a commanding lead in a field of five major candidates, with 33% of voters supporting her, while Bass trailed at 17%, according to the poll by the Loyola Marymount University Center for the Study of Los Angeles.

Leftist Rae Huang came in just behind Bass at nearly 17%, while tech executive Adam Miller had 13% and conservative reality TV star Spencer Pratt had 12%.

Other polls have shown Bass in first place.

She was at 20% in an Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics poll, with Raman at just over 9%. In a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, co-sponsored by The Times, Bass was at 25% and Raman at 17%.

In the Loyola Marymount poll, unlike the other polls, respondents were given brief descriptions of the candidates, including their occupations and political priorities.

Raman was labeled a “progressive LA City Councilmember focused on housing affordability, homelessness and systemic reform,” while Bass was “incumbent mayor of Los Angeles, veteran legislator, focused on homelessness.”

One of Raman’s challenges, as a councilmember representing Los Feliz and Silver Lake as well as parts of the San Fernando Valley, is to spread her name recognition citywide, with the June 2 primary election about two months away. She entered the race to challenge Bass, her one-time ally, at the last minute, hours before the early February filing deadline.

The Loyola Marymount poll of 370 registered Los Angeles voters was conducted from Feb. 11 to March 16. It did not include a choice for “undecided,” while the other two polls showed that significant percentages of voters hadn’t made up their minds.

“This poll shows if only positive descriptors are used and context is provided, Raman is ahead,” said Fernando Guerra, director of Loyola Marymount’s Center for the Study of Los Angeles, who directed the poll.

Guerra said he believes Bass is the front-runner, taking the previous polls into account.

Bass’ campaign took issue with the Loyola Marymount poll.

“In 2022, this same LMU poll had Karen Bass at 16% — she ended up winning the primary with 43%. The only thing more ridiculous than this poll is Spencer Pratt’s performance on The Hills,” said Alex Stack, a spokesperson for the Bass campaign, referencing Pratt’s reality show.

Raman’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a post on X citing the poll, Raman wrote, “OUR CAMPAIGN IS SURGING … Angelenos are ready for a city that actually works.”

Paul Mitchell, vice president of the bipartisan voter data firm Political Data Inc., said the poll’s sample size was too small to draw conclusions and that the poll was less reliable because it was conducted over the course of more than a month.

He also noted that with many of the candidates relatively unknown, including the descriptors could have a major effect.

“I’m sure Nithya Raman doesn’t have citywide name recognition, but that description is really great,” Mitchell said.

Guerra said he didn’t include an “undecided” option because he wanted to “force” respondents to give an answer, similar to when they actually vote.

In the Emerson poll, more than 50% of voters were undecided on who to support for mayor. The Berkeley IGS poll showed about a quarter of voters were undecided.

In LMU’s mayoral poll from 2022, released in early March of that year, 42% of respondents chose “undecided/someone else” for mayor.

After Bass, who had 16% support, then-City Councilmember Kevin de Léon was second at 12% in the 2022 poll. Rick Caruso, the billionaire developer, who ended up making the runoff election against Bass, received 6% support.

In that year’s June primary, Bass got 43% of the vote, Caruso nearly 36% and De Léon about 8%.

This year’s LMU poll also asked L.A. voters what kind of candidate they would prefer for mayor.

Nearly 50% said they prefer a Democratic Socialist, while 25% said they want a moderate Democrat, 19% said a conservative and just 8% said an establishment Democrat.

“Los Angeles is much more progressive than its elected leadership. This poll captures that,” Guerra said.

Some disagreed.

Mike Trujillo, a consultant for moderate Democrats who is not representing anyone in the mayoral race, said polling he has done across the city shows that the Democratic Socialists of America’s popularity is much lower.

Raman is a dues-paying member of the Los Angeles chapter of DSA, which endorsed her in her two successful City Council campaigns.

“If you believe this poll, I have bridges to sell you on 1st Street, 6th Street, and Alameda Street — and there’s no bridge on Alameda,” he said. “The poll was basically A to Z in Nithya Raman’s contact list.”

This year’s LMU poll also asked L.A. County voters about the governor’s race. Former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter led at about 16%, followed by Republican Steve Hilton at 13% and billionaire Tom Steyer at 12%.

The Berkeley IGS poll showed two Republicans — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and Hilton — leading the crowded field of gubernatorial candidates by slim margins among voters statewide, with Democratic support split among multiple candidates in a left-leaning state.

INFLUENCER Lydia Millen has revealed she’s finally snapped up her dream home after a six-year search just as her “fake accent” was exposed.

The controversial ‘poshfluencer’, who was recently accused of putting on a more well-spoken voice, shared the exciting news with her millions of followers.

Lydia posted a series of coastal snaps from her new property in Norfolk.

The 36-year-old opened up about the long journey in a heartfelt caption as she prepares to add another property to her portfolio.

Writing rather than speaking to her followers, she penned: “We bought a new home.

“Six years ago we began our search, first in the Cotswolds, and then after a trip to Cley-next-the-Sea where we completely fell in love with the Norfolk coast, our search moved there.

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“We looked for something special but never quite found it.

“Until October, when I stumbled across a 200-year-old fisherman’s cottage. And last week, we finally completed.”

Even modest cottages on the Norfolk coast can fetch £300,000, while prime properties soar past £1million.

The new coastal bolthole marks a lifestyle shift for Lydia and Ali, who have long documented their countryside life online.

The crumbling cottage is expected to undergo a full-scale transformation, with fans already anticipating a series of renovation updates across her social platforms.

Lydia explained: “It needs everything. Heating, rewiring, kitchen, bathroom, windows. A full renovation.

“But one day hollyhocks will grow in the front garden again, and Paul’s Himalayan musk roses will ramble their way back across the flint and brick facade.”

Lydia has previously revealed she owns multiple properties, all mortgage-free, explaining she “doesn’t like having debt”.

The influencer has faced backlash in recent months, with some fans accusing her of not being entirely truthful about her roots.

Born in Watford, Hertfordshire, Lydia has spoken openly about growing up in a council house with her mum after her parents split.

She has previously said she “flunked” her GCSEs before training as a beauty therapist.

Before finding fame online, Lydia also spent seasons working in Ibiza.

Her social media career took off after moving to the countryside, where she spotted a gap in the market for aspirational British lifestyle content.

However, critics have claimed she has “reinvented” herself including adopting a more polished speaking voice.

Responding to one follower who asked why she had changed the way she speaks, Lydia said: “Because I just don’t see why I shouldn’t?

“I value being well spoken, and I know it also helps my international audience.”

Now a social media powerhouse, Lydia shares her idyllic country lifestyle with 1.6million Instagram followers, 1.4million on TikTok and more than one million YouTube subscribers.

The TikTok star is married to Ali Gordon, whom she met on Instagram in 2012.

The pair tied the knot in December 2017 at Aynhoe Park in Oxfordshire and are now thought to be worth around £10million.