FCC Ethics Complaints Over Paramount Gifts Amid Major Media Merger Reviews

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty received complimentary attendance to the Kennedy Center Honors gala — an event sponsored by Paramount’s parent company CBS — as the agency was reviewing Paramount’s proposed mergers. Trusty’s disclosure listed two tickets valued at more than $12,000; Carr reported a sky-box attendance worth $12,390, though the Kennedy Center’s own valuation placed the seat at $125,000. The agency’s ethics office certified Carr’s disclosure on June 22. Democracy Defenders Fund filed a formal complaint on August 3 2026, alleging violations of federal gift rules and requesting that Carr be recused from any further decision on the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

FCC Commissioners Must Be Investigated for Accepting Gifts from Paramount Propublica

Paramount has pursued a series of high-value transactions that require FCC approval. In 2025 the company announced a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, ultimately leading to a $111 billion acquisition proposal. Earlier, Paramount secured an $8 billion merger with Skydance, a vote in which both Carr and Trusty participated. The pending Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal remains one of the final federal hurdles for the consolidation of two of Hollywood’s five largest studios. The companies agreed to pause the merger until the litigation is resolved or June 1 2027, whichever occurs first.

Propublica

An FCC spokesperson told ProPublica that agency ethics officers have repeatedly cleared commissioners to accept the gala tickets, deeming them consistent with ethics law. Carr, when defending the Skydance merger, said it “advances the public interest.” The FCC chair, the commissioners, and the agency’s inspector general declined to comment on the complaint.

Propublica

Democracy Defenders Fund, led by former White House ethics czar Norman Eisen, lodged the grievance with the FCC, the Office of Government Ethics, and the FCC inspector general, arguing that the gifts may have breached federal gratuities statutes and should trigger a repayment of fair-market value. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), headed by former House Ethics Committee attorney Donald K.

Propublica

• “Chairman Carr and Commissioner Trusty’s attendance at the Kennedy Center Honors raises immense questions about their impartiality in matters concerning Paramount,” — Virginia Canter, chief counsel and director of anti-corruption and ethics at Democracy Defenders Fund

FCC Commissioners Must Be Investigated for Accepting Gifts from Paramount