Two government watchdog groups have filed ethics complaints asking for investigations into whether members of the Federal Communications Commission broke ethics rules by accepting luxury gala tickets from Paramount. The complaints come as Paramount seeks government approval for its $111 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
The complaints, filed by Democracy Defenders Fund and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, point to a ProPublica investigation. That investigation found that CBS, and later its parent company Paramount, gave FCC commissioners tickets to the Kennedy Center honors gala for years. CBS sponsors the event.
The commissioners took these gifts while the FCC was reviewing, or was about to review, major business decisions involving Paramount, including two large mergers.
Commissioners received tickets worth thousands of dollars
FCC Chair Brendan Carr has reported accepting honors gala tickets from CBS or Paramount eight times since he joined the commission in 2017. In total, these gifts add up to more than $75,000.
Commissioner Olivia Trusty’s most recent financial disclosure showed that Paramount gave her two tickets to the December 2025 gala. Together, the tickets were worth more than $12,000. Trusty was one of two commissioners who voted last year to approve Paramount’s merger with Skydance.
Carr also voted in favor of that merger. At the December gala, Carr sat with his wife in a private skybox alongside Paramount CEO David Ellison and other Paramount and CBS executives. According to Kennedy Center guidelines, seats like these sold for $125,000 each.
Carr’s latest financial statement said he accepted tickets from Paramount for himself and a guest to the 2025 gala and reception, worth $12,390. Carr did not respond to a request from ProPublica asking him to explain the difference in value between those tickets and the skybox seats.
The FCC released Carr’s disclosure late on a Friday, more than a month after ProPublica first asked for it. The document states that the agency certified it on June 22.
Federal ethics rules stop employees from accepting gifts from any organization that does business with, is regulated by, or is asking for action from their agency. The Democracy Defenders Fund said in its complaint, “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.”
Carr, Trusty, and the FCC did not respond to requests for comment. The agency’s inspector general also declined to comment. An FCC spokesperson had previously said that agency ethics officers have cleared commissioners to accept the tickets for years, and found the practice consistent with ethics law.
Paramount’s chief of communications said inviting government officials from both parties to the Kennedy Center show has been a “CBS practice” for decades. The FCC’s review of the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger is one of the last federal steps needed for the deal to go through. If approved, it would combine two of the five largest film studios in Hollywood.
This would bring Paramount+ and HBO Max, CBS and CNN, and many other broadcast channels, cable networks, and digital platforms under one company. Paramount has faced other questions about the deal too, after a company executive blamed some of the opposition on antisemitism amid scrutiny over its financing sources.
Four ethics experts told ProPublica that by accepting the tickets, Carr and Trusty had compromised the FCC’s impartiality. They said the two commissioners should not take part in any future decision on the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
Democracy Defenders Fund, led by former U.S. ambassador Norman Eisen, filed its complaint with the federal Office of Government Ethics, the FCC’s inspector general, and the FCC’s ethics office. The group asked officials to look into whether Carr and Trusty broke gift rules or violated criminal laws that ban federal officials from accepting illegal gratuities.
The group also said Carr and Trusty should be required to repay Paramount the fair market value of any improper gifts. It asked the federal ethics agency to hold off on certifying Carr’s annual disclosure until he shows he has followed ethics laws. The group also asked that Carr be removed from any further role in the FCC’s decision on the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
Democracy Defenders Fund noted that hours after last year’s gala ended, Paramount announced its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. That bid later led to a merger agreement that needs FCC approval. About three months later, Carr publicly supported the deal on CNBC and said it would be approved quickly.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a separate letter asking the FCC’s inspector general to investigate. The group said, “The reported gifts to FCC officials from businesses that are not only subject to agency regulation but presently engaged in billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions that must be approved by the commissioners themselves are extremely concerning threats to the integrity of FCC operations.”
CREW is led by Donald K. Sherman, a former House Ethics Committee attorney. Sherman said in a statement, “Government officials have the power to make decisions that impact huge swaths of the American people. With this tremendous power comes a higher ethical standard that apparently wasn’t met. The IG can and must get answers for the public.”
The Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger also faces legal challenges. California, New York, and 10 other states have filed a lawsuit to block the deal under antimonopoly laws. The Writers Guild of America, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, and the Public Interest Project have filed similar court challenges.
In the UK, actors including Benedict Cumberbatch have also urged regulators to block the merger, warning of its impact on the British screen industry. Paramount has agreed to pause the merger until the lawsuits are resolved, or until June 1, 2027, whichever happens first.
Published: Aug 4, 2026 02:15 pm