Actor Russell Crowe had some words of condemnation for the film “Gladiator 2,” which he says was missing a crucial component compared to the first one.
“I think the recent sequel that, you know, we don’t have to name out loud is a really unfortunate example of even the people in that engine room not actually understanding what made the first one special,” Crowe said while speaking with Australia’s Triple J. “It wasn’t the pomp. It wasn’t the circumstance. It wasn’t the action. It was the moral core.”
Crowe won an Oscar for his portrayal of Maximus in the first “Gladiator” (2000). The sequel was released nearly a quarter of a century later, in 2024.
The actor said he was instrumental in keeping the “moral core” of Maximus while filming the original, saying it was important to him because it fit the character.
“The thing is, there was a daily fight on that set. It was a daily fight to keep that moral core of the character,” Crowe went on. “The amount of times they suggested sex scenes and stuff like that for Maximus, it’s like you’re taking away his power. So you’re saying at the same time he had this relationship with his wife, he was f***king this other girl? What are you talking about? It’s crazy.”
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Many commenters on the interview agreed that the second movie did not live up to the caliber of the first.
“It was an awful sequel that in no way lived up to its predecessor,” one person wrote.
“100% agree with his take and this is one of the many reasons Maximus is one of my favorite movie protagonists,” another person agreed. “One of the few stories who the hero is fueled by revenge for their love that was taken from them and they actually stay loyal and honor the memory of that person they’re on this crusade for.”
One of the issues Crowe seems to have with “Gladiator 2” was that its premise included Maximus having had an affair which resulted in the birth of a son, who was the protagonist in the film.
This isn’t the first time the “Gladiator” star brought up the issue of morality in the films. He said in 2024, “I’m slightly uncomfortable with the fact they’re making another one — because, of course, I’m dead and I have no say in what gets done. But a couple of the things I’ve heard I’m like — no, no, no, that’s not in the moral journey of that particular character. But I can’t say anything, it’s not my place.”
The Australian actor also said at the time that he was fed up with people asking him about the film when he had no say in it.
“They should be f***ing paying me for the amount of questions I am asked about a film I am not even in,” Crowe said in 2023.
“It has nothing to do with me. In that world, I am dead. Six feet under. But I do admit to a certain tinge of jealousy, because it reminds me of when I was younger and what it meant for me, in my life.”

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe Blasts ‘Gladiator 2’ For Lacking ‘Moral Core’ That Made The First One Great

Russell Crowe Blasts 'Gladiator 2' For Lacking 'Moral Core' That Made The First One Great

Entertainment

Hollywood

Movies

The actress who played the villain in the mystery horror thriller “Weapons” said that the gay and drag communities have really connected with her character.
Amy Madigan, who plays the child-snatching witch Aunt Gladys in the film, made the comments during a newly published <a href="https://variety.com/lists/ariana-grande-michael-b-jordan-react-golden-globe-nominations/chase-infiniti/">interview</a> with Variety.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Weapons | Marcus Meets Gladys | Movie Clip | Warner Bros. Entertainment" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FbLRYXXTz0A?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“People actually like Aunt Gladys,” the actress said of the character. “They kind of want to hang out with her. I’m very, very happy and grateful that the gay community and the drag community have really accepted Gladys. The people that I’ve talked to have said, ‘We’re the other. We’re the outsider, and we’re not supposed to fit in, and Gladys does in a weird way.’ And now they have really helped her spread her magic around.”
The Golden Globes just nominated Madigan for best performance by a female actor in a supporting role in any motion picture. In the film, her character uses witchcraft to possess both children and adults, using their life force to keep herself young.
“Weapons” director Zach Cregger discussed some of his motivations for the film, including the character of Aunt Gladys with her bright red hair and garish makeup. 
&#8220;I had written another script many years ago that was kind of the Gladys story,&#8221; Cregger <a href="https://ew.com/weapons-aunt-gladys-origins-revealed-shelved-script-voodoo-book-song-11821481">told</a> Entertainment Weekly in an interview published in October. &#8220;It was told from a child&#8217;s perspective, and this crazy woman picks him up at school and takes him home and has subsumed his parents. It&#8217;s about him trying to figure out how to get out from under her oppression.&#8221; 
He said the character was inspired by a non-fiction book by Wade Davis called &#8220;The Serpent and the Rainbow&#8221; and a song called &#8220;Dancing in the Head&#8221; by the British punk band The Mekons.
There were many reactions on social media about Aunt Gladys being embraced by the LGBT crowd. 
“Uhhh, she&#8217;s a hideous, murderous monster who tortured children,” one reply <a href="https://x.com/shoveitjack/status/1998171762643947526">said</a>. “Come to think of it, yes, it makes sense that the alphabet cult would embrace her.”
“Extraordinary. Once again siding with an unsympathetic and irredeemable villain who preys on children,” another person <a href="https://x.com/lord_of_paradox/status/1998480103337005517">said</a>. 
“The gay and drag community loves a witch who kidnapped and enslaved children, lol, I can’t believe she just straight up said it,” <a href="https://x.com/GPIngersoll/status/1998434480869236820">echoed</a> a third.

Aunt Gladys

‘Weapons’ Actress Brags That Drag Community Loves Her Child Snatching, Witch Character

'Weapons' Actress Brags That Drag Community Loves Her Child Snatching, Spell Casting Character

Drag Queens

Horror Movies

LGBT

The ambitious fantasy series “The Pendragon Cycle” doesn’t just reimagine ancient Britain. It also reimagines its heroes. At the center of that transformation is Rose Reid, who plays Charis and also serves as a credited writer on the series. 
It’s a rare pairing in the genre, and Reid says stepping into the role required an entirely different kind of heroine than audiences are used to seeing.
“I think the thing that initially drew me to her was because she has such an interesting arc,” Reid said. “We meet Charis at a time that we don&#8217;t typically meet a lot of heroines in fantasy.”
Instead of introducing Charis before she completes an epic mission, like saving a kingdom or embarking on a journey, the series begins after the defining moment of her life. 
“We meet her after she&#8217;s already saved her people, and she&#8217;s essentially reconciling what happened and who she was then with who she was now,” she said. Charis is a character living with the consequences of past choices, and the show doesn’t shy away from letting viewers wonder about those decisions. Reid adds, “There are definitely several moments where you want the audience to ask the question, was that the right call?”
“I&#8217;ve always been a huge fantasy fan, so this was a dream project for so many reasons,” she said of scoring the role.
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Reid’s position as both writer and actress gave her a unique perspective on the character, though she emphasized that she wasn’t cast in the role until later on. 
“I actually didn&#8217;t know that I was going to play her until very, very late into the writer&#8217;s room,” she explained. “I&#8217;m really grateful that that wasn&#8217;t even a conversation… I wasn&#8217;t writing her thinking I was going to play her.” 
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That separation ultimately spurred more creativity. “We could have a little bit more freedom to write her the way she needed to be written and that she deserved to be written rather than writing her with a specific person or a specific actress in mind.”
Once filming began, Charis evolved even further. “Characters change as you work through things,” Reid said. She credits showrunner Jeremy Boreing for having “such a specific vision” for who Charis was in every scene. Acting opposite co-stars like Daniel Fathers also reshaped the character. 
“How they respond to your character does kind of change … the same thing that I prepped in my head might not work anymore, because Daniel Fathers took a different approach.” One scene during an episode with Fathers, who plays Charis’ father, King Avallach, quickly became her favorite. “It ended up being my favorite scene on screen that I was in anyway. So I&#8217;m really, really excited for fans to see that.”
Reid also shared one of the production’s most surprising challenges: the now-infamous bull sequence, which was “terrifying” yet “exciting” because it used living, breathing bulls. 
“That sequence took us two weeks to film,” she said. “We spent the entire time we were writing, the entire time we were shooting the rest of the season preparing for that scene, because it was going to be such a big ordeal.” 
She admits it left her “kind of an adrenaline junkie.”
Filming in Cinecittà Studios added another layer to the experience. “That set is incredible. It&#8217;s huge. You really felt like you were there … it was impossible to step onto that set without thinking that you really had stepped into Atlantis and stepped into another world.” 
But more than any single moment, what stayed with her was the cast bond. “This cast is so close,” she said. “We all kind of locked arms and we&#8217;ve all been really good friends since then.” Her on-screen sister, Morgan, played by Emree Franklin, became one of her closest real-life friends. “We just became more family than friends, which I think is really special considering that that doesn&#8217;t happen very often.”
Reid closed with appreciation for the entire crew that brought “The Pendragon Cycle” to life. 
“Audiences don&#8217;t fully appreciate how much this is a team effort from everyone from [costume designers Tóth András Dániel Godena-Juhász Attila] to our incredible special effects team to the grips and everybody,” she said. “If audiences like the show, it&#8217;s probably not because of something any one group of people did, it&#8217;s because of the collective. And that&#8217;s part of the reason film is the only career I could ever see myself in.”
“<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-pendragon-cycle">The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin</a>,” premieres January 22, 2026, with early episodes releasing on Christmas Day for DailyWire+ All Access members.

Charis

Inside ‘The Pendragon Cycle’: Rose Reid On Bringing Life To Charis, A Heroine For Our Time

DailyWire+

Television

The Pendragon Cycle

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is being mocked for saying he can’t fathom parenting without the use of artificial intelligence.
The tech entrepreneur made the remarks during an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” When the host asked Altman if he used the platform to help raise his newly adopted baby, whom he shares with partner Oliver Mulherin, Altman said it was a crucial part of his parenting.
“I do,” he told Fallon. “I mean, I feel kinda bad about it, because we have this genius-level-at-everything intelligence sitting there waiting to unravel the mysteries of humanity. And I’m like, ‘Why does my kid stop dropping his pizza on the floor and laughing?’”
“I feel like I’m not asking a good enough question,” he continued.
“I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT,” Altman admitted before quickly adding, “Clearly, people did it for a long time, no problem… I know [that] clearly it was possible,” he repeated, as Fallon laughed while replying, “Yes, it was possible.”
“But I have relied on it so much. I mean, it’s obviously the most important thing to happen in my life, so it’s top of my mind, and I use it all the time,” Altman said.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Sam Altman Says Technology Is the Greatest Equalizing Force in Society | The Tonight Show" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qMAg8_yf9zA?start=113&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Social media has not been kind to the OpenAI exec, especially as the topic of surrogacy and gay adoption continues to make headlines.
“And this, folks is why we shouldn’t let gay people adopt kids,” one X user <a href="https://x.com/yosoymario91/status/1998475717911466216">replied</a>. 
“That&#8217;s some terrifying propaganda,” another commenter <a href="https://x.com/MadamSavvy/status/1998500574325583953">chimed in</a>. 
“See: why infants need their mother,” a third person <a href="https://x.com/RealBrittHughes/status/1998766261451309444">agreed</a>. 
Beyond the broader conversation about the widespread adoption of AI chatbots like ChatGPT and the potential adverse effects on society, parents are also sounding the alarm about specific incidents involving their children. In one case, ChatGPT provided information about how a 14-year-old could have an abortion without her parents finding out. 
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The platform also encouraged gender-confused kids to reach out to radical LGBT organizations to obtain so-called “gender-affirming” resources like chest binders, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chatgpt-will-help-kids-access-gender-affirming-resources-behind-their-parents-backs">reported</a>.
The parents of a 16-year-old boy who consistently engaged in conversation with ChatGPT about suicide are suing OpenAI for their role in the death, per another <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/after-repeatedly-confiding-in-chatgpt-teen-committed-suicide-now-his-parents-are-suing">report</a>.

Altman on Fallon

Tech CEO Dragged For Saying He Can’t Imagine Raising A Child Without AI

Sam Altman: 'I Cannot Imagine Figuring Out How To Raise A Newborn Without ChatGPT'

Artificial Intelligence

ChatGPT

Jimmy Fallon

Parenting

Sam altman

The Golden Globes completely snubbed popular conservative and independent podcasts when nominations were announced on Monday for the newly-created category, Best Podcast.
Instead of including some of the most listened-to podcasts in the nation, the organization nominated mostly actors and comedians for the category. Nominees included “Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard,” Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy,” “Good Hang with Amy Poehler,” “The Mel Robbins Podcast,” NPR’s “Up First,&#8221; and “SmartLess” hosted by actors Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes.
Notable snubs include “The Joe Rogan Experience,” widely known to be the most popular podcast in the nation and a chart topper across Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Other huge conservative podcasts left out include “The Ben Shapiro Show” and “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
Shapiro <a href="https://www.goldderby.com/tv/2025/ben-shapiro-interview-golden-globes-best-podcast/">discussed</a> being one of the 25 eligible podcasts for the nomination during an interview with Gold Derby last month. He said that in order for the country to unify, the other side needs to acknowledge the existence of conservatives.
&#8220;I do think that it is necessary for people to sit at the same table and at least acknowledge that we&#8217;re all Americans together. Because if we can&#8217;t even do that, it&#8217;s going to be very difficult to have a country together,&#8221; he told the outlet.
The Daily Wire host also noted how it was “really, really important” for podcasts to be recognized as a medium.
Per the Golden Globes, the goal of the new award is to celebrate excellence in podcasting by recognizing their &#8220;quality, creativity, audience engagement, and impact.” Besides shutting out every conservative and independent podcast, the organization did not nominate any true crime shows, and kept the far-Left podcast “Pod Save America” off the list as well.
The company said it would use &#8220;proprietary methodology designed to objectively evaluate podcasts,&#8221; based on metrics including audience reach/engagement, financial metrics, and platform visibility/market presence.

Ben Shapiro

Top Performing Conservative Podcasts Totally Shut Out Of Golden Globes Nominations

General

Golden Globes

Podcast

U.S.

Comedian David Spade is calling out a mall in Michigan for hosting a Christmas tree lighting ceremony that intentionally omitted the word “Christmas.”
Spade described what happened during a recent episode of his podcast, “Fly on the Wall,” which he hosts alongside fellow comedian and “SNL” alum Dana Carvey. 
&#8220;I will say that Christmas is taking a little bit of a beating lately. It is December and I saw the other day there was a tree lighting ceremony for the Christmas tree in some dopey mall… but it said tree lighting ceremony, and they were careful not to say the word Christmas during the whole ceremony,&#8221; Spade said during the episode.
The “Joe Dirt” star did not identify which mall he was referring to, only claiming it was in Michigan.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Christmas Prep Episode???" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f0rCtfRjeso?start=196&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;Why?&#8221; Spade went on. &#8220;So it&#8217;s just a tree? And you go, I would understand if you said, &#8216;They&#8217;re doing the tree lighting at [the mall] or whatever. You go, ‘OK.’ But to consciously avoid that, then what is the tree for?&#8221; he continued. &#8220;A December to Remember? Is it a Lexus dealership? Why do we have… for the whole month? Isn&#8217;t it for Christmas?&#8221;
Carvey chimed in to say plenty of non-Christians he knew were not offended by Christmas despite it being a Christian holiday.
“I’d say stop that bullsh*t,” Spade went on. “They like all things about it, [just] don’t say that word.”
Spade said it was ridiculous that establishments were willing to dance around the word without stating it. The podcast hosts also claimed Christmas has been commandeered by the secular crowd anyway.
&#8220;If you&#8217;re of faith, it&#8217;s about Christianity,&#8221; Carvey said. &#8220;But I think at this point in America, it&#8217;s just Christmas. It&#8217;s a fun holiday. I don’t like the thought police. I don’t like to have words I can’t use.”
Spade identified himself as a Christian, but also said he was “more spiritual” when Carvey described him as “lapsed.” The comedian further referenced the current persecution of Christians in African countries such as Nigeria.
&#8220;We&#8217;re taking a beating down in Africa,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s like this is not the year to be Christian. I will tell you that.&#8221;

David Spade

David Spade Slams Mall For Omitting ‘Christmas’ From Tree Lighting Ceremony

David Spade Slams Mall For Omitting 'Christmas' From Tree Lighting Ceremony

Celebrities

Christmas

comedian

Michigan

Netflix is being dragged hard for the storyline of its upcoming series, “Queen of Coal,” which is so woke it sounds made up.
The Spanish-Argentine series will be released in America on December 19 and is making the rounds on social media for its ultra-leftist storyline. Per the <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81728098">logline</a>, it’s about “a trans woman [who] dreams of working the coal mines — but in a town steeped in superstition and patriarchy, Carlita must fight to earn her place underground.”
The series stars Lux Pascal, a trans-identifying man who is the brother of Hollywood star Pedro Pascal.
Reactions on social media were mostly negative, especially in light of current events. Netflix just made a deal to acquire Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion, which is subject to approval by the Justice Department’s antitrust division. Critics are concerned about Netflix’s level of control over the entertainment industry.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="MISS CARBÓN • Tráiler oficial" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yb6RMRrXnJ8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“Is this a joke?” one person <a href="https://x.com/darrengrimes/status/1997984951539527853?s=43">wondered</a> about “Queen of Coal.” 
“‘Why are you so against Netflix buying Warner Bros. and HBO?’ HERE’S WHY: Their upcoming film ‘Queen of Coal’ is about a man who transitions, then has to fight against his ‘conservative small-town community’, shown as hostile and evil, to keep his dream job in the mines,” conservative podcaster Benny Johnson <a href="https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1998141787979096238">wrote</a>.
“It’s front and center on Netflix. They’re not even hiding it. If they take over Warner Bros. and HBO, this agenda goes everywhere,” he continued. “For now, you have the simple option to cancel Netflix and keep your kids away from it. But, once they own all the studios and platforms, you can’t. They’ll put the same message in every show, every movie, every classic. Cancel Netflix, block the deal, protect the children.”
“‘Queen of Coal,’ a movie about a man pretending to be a woman fighting the ‘patriarchy,’ is set to release on Netflix this month,” Libs of TikTok <a href="https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1998126962196525260">wrote</a>. “If you haven&#8217;t already, now would be a good time to CANCEL NETFLIX.”
Concerned Women for America (CWA) released a <a href="https://concernedwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/CWA-Netflix-Report.pdf">report</a> Monday that found that 41% of children’s content on Netflix contained LGBT themes. While this movie isn’t meant for kids, it does highlight the company’s broader agenda of aggressively mainstreaming LGBT content.

Lux Pascal

Netflix Mocked For Film About Trans-Identifying Coal Miner Fighting The Patriarchy

Netflix Mocked For Film About Trans Coal Miner Fighting The Patriarchy

Netflix

Transgender

One Battle After Another

Ultra-Woke ‘One Battle After Another’ Leads Golden Globes With 9 Total Nominations

Ultra-Woke 'One Battle After Another' Leads Golden Globes With 9 Total Nominations

Actress Sydney Sweeney just addressed the viral backlash against her following the American Eagle jeans campaign, not explicitly admitting to being woke but instead saying she is “against hate.”
Mostly, the 28-year-old star just expressed confusion about why everyone was up in arms over the ad campaign.
“I was honestly surprised by the reaction,” Sweeney <a href="https://people.com/sydney-sweeney-shares-emotional-response-to-american-eagle-jeans-campaign-exclusive-11863206">told</a> People in an interview published over the weekend. “I did it because I love the jeans and love the brand. I don’t support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign. Many have assigned motives and labels to me that just aren’t true.”
“Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always trying to bring people together. I’m against hate and divisiveness,” she continued. “In the past my stance has been to never respond to negative or positive press but recently I have come to realize that my silence regarding this issue has only widened the divide, not closed it. So I hope this new year brings more focus on what connects us instead of what divides us.”
The comments come after many assumed Sweeney was a closet conservative, as evidenced by her being <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leftists-melt-down-after-report-that-sydney-sweeney-is-registered-republican" target="_blank" rel="noopener">registered as a Republican</a> and her unwillingness to comment on the American Eagle controversy when it happened, including when <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sydney-sweeney-praised-for-keeping-her-cool-as-gq-reporter-tries-to-shame-her" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confronted</a> by an aggressive GQ journalist last month in a viral exchange. 
Controversy erupted over the summer over an ad campaign featuring Sweeney in various seductive poses while saying she had “good jeans.” The double entendre with the word “genes” made leftists deem the ad racist, noting that Sweeney is white with blond hair and blue eyes.
In one of the ads, Sweeney says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
American Eagle responded to the backlash by issuing a simple statement: “&#8217;Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
The denim collection did exceptionally well, with most of the featured pieces selling out despite calls from leftists for a boycott.

Sydney Sweeney

‘I’m Against Hate’: Sydney Sweeney Speaks On Viral Jeans Ad Controversy

Sydney Sweeney Speaks On Viral Jeans Ad Controversy, Says She's 'Against Hate' 

Liberals

Paramount announced on Monday that it was challenging Netflix with a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. 
The <a href="https://ir.paramount.com/news-releases/news-release-details/paramount-launches-all-cash-tender-offer-acquire-warner-bros">announcement</a> comes just days after Netflix said it had reached a deal to acquire the entertainment company in a massive $82.7 billion deal.
“We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry,” Paramount Chairman and CEO David Ellison said in a statement. “We believe they will benefit from the enhanced competition, higher content spend and theatrical release output, and a greater number of movies in theaters as a result of our proposed transaction.”
Ellison announced an all-cash tender offer, which the company said “provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion&#8221; to shareholders. Paramount&#8217;s proposed deal was also expected to close in 12 months, compared with Netflix&#8217;s 18 months.
The Paramount offer includes purchasing Warner Bros. cable television assets, which Paramount said are worth about $18 billion more than the Netflix bid. The company had previously made six offers to Warner Bros., only to be rejected each time. The press release noted that Warner Bros. &#8220;never engag[ed] meaningfully&#8221; with those offers.
This news comes not long after President Trump remarked on the Netflix deal, saying it “could be a problem” from an antitrust standpoint. The president also mentioned being “involved” in reviewing the deal.
Paramount CEO David Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who is a friend of President Trump and a major donor.
The proposed merger has had bipartisan pushback from skeptics who warn it could turn into a “nightmare” for consumers and creatives, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/netflix-warner-bros-deal-faces-bipartisan-political-pushback?author=Reuters&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Netflix-Warner+Bros+Deal+Faces+Bipartisan+Political+Pushback">reported</a>. 
“Netflix built a great service, but increasing Netflix’s dominance this way would mean the end of the Golden Age of streaming for content creators and consumers,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) wrote in a post on X.
“We’re highly confident in the regulatory process. This deal is pro-consumer, pro-innovation, pro-worker, it’s pro-creator, it’s pro-growth,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said after the deal was announced.

Paramount

Paramount Launches Hostile Takeover Bid For Warner Bros. Days After Netflix Deal Announced

Business

Donald Trump

Warner Bros

President Donald Trump weighed in on the anticipated Netflix–Warner Bros. merger, saying the amount of market share Netflix would gain &#8220;could be a problem.&#8221;
Trump took questions from the red carpet at a Kennedy Center event over the weekend. Then on Monday, Paramount challenged Netflix with an aggressive bid of its own.
“Netflix is a great company. They’ve done a phenomenal job. Ted is a fantastic man,” he said of Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, mentioning they met in the Oval Office last week. “I have a lot of respect for him, but it’s a lot of market share, so we’ll have to see what happens.”
When asked if Netflix should purchase Warner Bros., Trump replied, “Well that’s the question.”
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“They have a very big market share and when they have Warner Bros., you know, that share goes up a lot so, I don’t know,” the president added. “I’ll be involved in that decision, too. But they have a very big market share.”
The decision is expected to require approval by the Justice Department&#8217;s antitrust division. 
Paramount Skydance on Monday launched a bid to buy Warner Bros. Paramount CEO David Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who is a friend of President Trump and a major donor.
The all-cash offer was touted as being “superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion,” plus promised “$18 billion more in cash” compared to the Netflix offer, per a <a href="https://ir.paramount.com/news-releases/news-release-details/paramount-launches-all-cash-tender-offer-acquire-warner-bros" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> shared on Monday.
Netflix announced on Friday that it would acquire Warner Bros., including its film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO, in a massive deal valued at $82.7 billion.
Netflix said Warner Bros.’ current method of operating, “including theatrical releases for films,” will continue in an apparent effort to quell fears from critics of the acquisition.
“I know some of you’re surprised that we’re making this acquisition, and I certainly understand why. Over the years, we have been known to be builders, not buyers,” Sarandos said during an investor call Friday morning, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/netflix-to-acquire-warner-bros-in-massive-billion-dollar-deal">reported</a>.
“We already have incredible shows and movies and a great business model, and it’s working for talent, it’s working for consumers and it’s working for shareholders. This is a rare opportunity,” he said. “It’s going to help us achieve our mission to entertain the world and to bring people together through great stories.”
The acquisition is expected to close once Warner Bros. completes its planned spinoff from Discovery Global, meaning the deal would potentially finalize in the third quarter of 2026.

Trump Warns Netflix-Warner Bros. Deal ‘Could Be A Problem’

Trump Warns Netflix-Warner Bros. Deal 'Could Be A Problem'

Antitrust

It’s not in your imagination: children’s television has been overrun with LGBT themes, and Netflix is leading the charge, waving the rainbow flag right into your living room.
A <a href="https://concernedwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/CWA-Netflix-Report.pdf">new report</a> from Concerned Women for America (CWA) confirms what many parents have long suspected about LGBT propaganda in kids’ entertainment. According to the study, one-third of all Netflix shows rated for children contain LGBTQ characters, themes, or messaging, and the percentage jumps to 41% in both TV-G and TV-Y7 categories.
In other words, the shows most aggressively marketed to the youngest viewers now routinely include sexual-identity content that would have been unthinkable in children’s entertainment just a decade ago.
Parents got a glimpse of this last October when a clip from the series “Dead End: Paranormal Park” went viral due to the main character “coming out” as transgender, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-says-he-will-cancel-netflix-subscription-over-trans-propaganda-aimed-at-children">reported</a>. 
Elon Musk amplified the video and urged users to “cancel Netflix.” Within hours, the platform lost an estimated $15 billion in value. But while many dismissed the situation as an isolated incident, the CWA report demonstrates that it was only the tip of the iceberg.
The research team examined 326 Netflix series rated TV-G, TV-Y, or TV-Y7 — categories traditionally meant to be free of sexual topics altogether. They then catalogued LGBT themes as explicit (openly identified characters), implied (queer-coded characters or storylines), meta (LGBT families on reality shows), or none.
Even among TV-Y shows, which are geared toward preschoolers, 21% of the programs introduce LGBT identity concepts. Shows such as “The Magic School Bus Rides Again” and “Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City” feature transgender, nonbinary, or “trans-coded” characters.
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CWA President and CEO Penny Nance, who leads the nation’s largest public policy organization for women, told The Daily Wire she was stunned by what the researchers uncovered. “I think I was most surprised that they had even targeted preschool children,” she said. “Over 20% of the programming aimed at the smallest viewers had LGBTQ themes included.”
For Nance, the numbers aren’t just data points, but a wake-up call for parents who thought age ratings provided a safeguard against adult content.
“Back in the day when my children were young, sometimes you need a reprieve from your day,” she explained. “You just need a few minutes, and you feel safe. You’ve done the work as a mom. … And yet, over all that content, at least 30% of it was LGBTQ themes.”
“The bottom line is the rating systems do not work,” she said. “You have the networks and the companies rating themselves … We have to go in a different direction because it’s absolutely insidious what they’re doing.”
Netflix and other major media companies often frame LGBT content as “representation.” But Nance rejects that narrative outright.
“I think their own content creators have been very clear on what their intent is,” she said. “It’s not as if they think that they’re not moving the needle in culture. They’ve been very forthright in what they’re planning to do.”
She points out the obvious discrepancy between the Netflix representation and actual population demographics. “You’ve got a very small percentage of the population, and yet the overall content that is being developed for little children is much larger than those numbers. … It’s overrepresenting.”
In May of this year, Netflix published a <a href="https://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/aii-2025-netflix-full-report.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com">report</a> highlighting Netflix’s efforts to add diversity to its original films and series. The report bragged that “2023 was a standout year &#8230; over half (52.4%) of all [episodic] programs released in the year featured LGBTQ+ characters as 10% or more of series regulars.”
In 2023, roughly 60% of new children’s shows on Netflix included LGBTQ content. That’s six times the rate one would expect if the goal were simply mirroring population data.
Even more concerning, the spike in youth identification with LGBTQ labels aligns with the rise in this type of media. Among Gen Z, LGBTQ self-identification has jumped from 11% in 2017 to more than 20% in 2023, as the report notes.
The report also reveals a major inflection point around 2021, when LGBTQ representation suddenly spiked across kids’ shows.
“Remember, this is during COVID,” Nance said by way of explanation. “Children are out of school, at home … I think there was absolute intent on the part of the culture warriors and content creators to try to target children.”
That spike coincided with a rise in minors identifying as transgender, which is something Nance believes is not a coincidence. “It wasn’t just on the darkest corners of the internet,” she told The Daily Wire. “It was apparently in their parents’ living room.”
When parents raise concerns, they’re often brushed off as overreacting or hopelessly bigoted. But Nance insists their instincts are correct.
“Parents are being gaslit,” she said. “Anyone who’s ever paid for an ad knows that children and adults both are impressionable … Just basic common sense tells you that people are impressionable, and children are even more impressionable.”
She says Netflix and the broader entertainment industry have betrayed families: “Parents … are right to be on their guard. Unfortunately, Netflix has let them down, as has much of the industry.”
One of the findings in the report is how classic franchises, including “The Magic School Bus,” “She-Ra,” “Power Rangers,” and “The Baby-Sitters Club,” were rebooted to incorporate LGBTQ characters or themes for the first time.
“It is so sad that these incredible franchises … have been rewritten to have a bias toward left-wing ideology and gender ideology,” Nance said. 
When asked what parents should do in response to this report, Nance recommends vigilance and taking a firm stance on streaming services that have zero regard for conservative values. 
“I would recommend parents not allow their children to watch Netflix or other … streaming services that also offer adult content, she said, adding that the days of turning on any kids&#8217; show and walking away are long behind us. 
“[Parents] should not trust the rating system … The days of just checking the rating and feeling okay about it are over.”
Instead, she urges families to pivot toward platforms aligned with their values. “They should be really serious about seeking out alternative media, like all the children&#8217;s programming that you all offer at Daily Wire, Angel Studios. … We have got to … support the people who are doing the work in order to create content that we can support.”

Preschool Propaganda: Study Finds 41% of Netflix Kids Shows Include LGBT Themes

Children

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