Two government watchdog groups have demanded investigations into whether Federal Communications Commission members violated ethics requirements by accepting luxury gala tickets from Paramount as the company sought government approval for its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The complaints filed by Democracy Defenders Fund and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington cite a recent ProPublica investigation that detailed how CBS or its parent company, now Paramount, have for years given FCC commissioners tickets to the Kennedy Center honors gala, which the television network sponsors. The commissioners accepted the gifts even as the FCC was reviewing or about to review major Paramount business decisions, including two megamergers.
Seven of the 10 commissioners who served since 2016 accepted tickets worth more than $260,000, according to a ProPublica analysis of ethics disclosures.
The Specific Allegations
Commissioner Olivia Trusty’s most recent financial disclosure said Paramount gave her two tickets to the December 2025 honors gala that together were worth more than $12,000. Trusty was one of two commissioners who voted last year to approve Paramount’s merger with another media company, Skydance.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s financial statements show he has reported accepting honors gala tickets from CBS or its parent company eight times since his 2017 appointment to the commission, totaling over $75,000 in gifts. Carr, who also voted in favor of the Paramount-Skydance merger last year, sat with his wife in a private skybox at the December gala with Paramount CEO David Ellison and other executives. Such seats sold for $125,000 a ticket, according to Kennedy Center guidelines.
The Ethics Rules
Federal ethics rules ban employees from taking gifts from any entity that does business with, is regulated by, or seeks official action from their agency.
“The federal gift regulations and the gratuities statute exist to ensure that government decisions are made on the merits, free from the influence of private benefits,” the Democracy Defenders Fund said in its complaint. “The public must have confidence that the FCC’s merger review process is not compromised by self-dealing or the appearance of impropriety.”
The Response
Carr, Trusty, and the FCC did not respond to requests for comment. An FCC spokesperson previously told ProPublica that agency ethics officers have for years cleared commissioners to accept the tickets, finding it consistent with ethics law. Paramount’s chief of communications said it was a decades-long “CBS practice to invite government officials from both parties” to the Kennedy Center show.
Carr last year defended the FCC’s approval of the Paramount merger with Skydance, saying it “advances the public interest.”
The Upcoming Merger
The FCC’s review of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger is one of the final federal hurdles facing a historic consolidation of two of the five largest film studios in Hollywood. The deal would unite Paramount Skydance with Warner Bros., bringing under one company Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services; CBS and CNN; and scores of other major broadcast channels, cable networks, and digital platforms.
Four ethics experts told ProPublica that by accepting the tickets, Trusty and Carr had compromised the FCC’s impartiality and should not take part in any upcoming decision on Paramount’s proposed merger.
The Legal Challenges
The proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery has drawn a flurry of legal opposition. California, New York, and 10 other states filed a lawsuit seeking to block the merger under federal and state antimonopoly laws. The Writers Guild of America, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, and the Public Interest Project filed similar court challenges in recent weeks.
Paramount has recently agreed to pause its merger until the litigation is resolved or until June 1, 2027, whichever comes first.
The Bottom Line
Two watchdog groups have filed ethics complaints against FCC commissioners Brendan Carr and Olivia Trusty for accepting luxury Kennedy Center tickets from Paramount while the agency reviewed billion-dollar mergers. ProPublica found that seven commissioners accepted over $260,000 in tickets since 2016. Carr received over $75,000 in gifts across eight years. Federal ethics rules prohibit gifts from entities seeking official action. The FCC has cleared the gifts in the past, but critics say the commissioners should be disqualified from the pending Paramount-Warner Bros. merger review.
