Jane Fonda Says Ex-Husband Ted Turner Would Be ‘Absolutely Heartbroken’ By Trump Ally Taking Over CNN

Screenshot via ABC

Actress and longtime liberal activist Jane Fonda said her ex-husband, CNN founder Ted Turner, would be “heartbroken” over Paramount taking over CNN amid the pending $111 billion merger.

Fonda spoke at the the DVF Awards charity gala held during the Venice Film Festival this week and a big topic of conversation was the Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which has been delayed to 2027 amid an antitrust lawsuit from 12 attorney generals.

Fonda, who was married to Turner from 1991 to 2001, said Turner would be “terribly upset” by the recent news about CNN, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

The actress said, according to Variety:

Oh, I think he would be terribly upset. He didn’t want to sell back in the day when he sold, and I was still with him then. And I remember all of the big thinkers, you know, the John Malones, the Gordie Crawfords. They were all saying, “You’ve got to do this.” Ted didn’t want to do it, but he did. And now David Zaslav did. Ted would be absolutely heartbroken.

The pending merger has caused concerns over potentially limiting competition in entertainment and news. Critics have also raised concerns about Ellison taking over Warner Bros. so shortly after his Skydance already acquired Paramount. Ellison is largely seen as an ally to President Donald Trump and his billionaire father Larry Ellison is a close supporter.

Fonda said she fears the merger will cut jobs, limit output, and raise consumer prices. She also said she believes she and others can fight hard enough to stop it from happening.

She did share some words of personal praise for David Ellison, noting his Skydance financed her seven-season Netflix series Grace and Frankie.

“David’s Skydance financed Grace and Frankie, my seven-year-long run for Netflix, and I got to know him, and I like him. But that doesn’t change things. This is not a personal thing. This is what it will do to the entertainment industry, which is already suffering terribly,” she said.

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