Mark Ruffalo blasted the merger between the Paramount and Warner Bros. studios once again after the deal became a reality on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved the settlement between Paramount Skydance and 12 Democratic state attorneys general who filed an antitrust case aimed at blocking its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
The judge's sign-off removed the last hurdle standing in the way of the acquisition. The companies announced later on Wednesday that they expected the $111 billion merger, the most expensive takeover in Hollywood history, to close on Tuesday 6 October.
Ruffalo, one of the most outspoken critics of the deal since the beginning, reacted to the news on X and Threads.
"This merger will stifle creativity, weaken free speech, and cost people their jobs -- it is a bad deal for this country and should never have been approved," he wrote. "This is an incredibly disappointing outcome for the hundreds of thousands of us who stood up to block it, but it's also not the end. This grassroots movement isn't going to fade away and neither is our resolve."
He continued, "This was never about just one merger: this was about fighting back against corrupt oligarch billionaires trampling the interests of everyday people to line their own pockets. We're still in that fight. Join us."
Last month, the Avengers actor called on California Attorney General Rob Bonta and his team to "not cave" and settle their antitrust lawsuit against Paramount Skydance, which would effectively keep executives from acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery.
He wrote on X, "5,670 filmmakers put their necks on the line for you to fight this merger... You work for the people - the very people who will be hurt if you let this lousy deal filled with empty promises go forward."
Amid his fight against the merger, Ruffalo was accused of antisemitism, an allegation he staunchly rejected on social media, calling the claim "appalling and fundamentally dishonest".
