Star Trek Cast Joins Growing Anti-Merger Movement as Wilson Cruz Calls on Trekkies to Protest

Wilson Cruz, Dr. Hugh Culber on Star Trek: Discovery, is urging the Trek fanbase to take to the streets over the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, delivering one of the most passionate calls to action yet from a franchise whose stars are increasingly united against the deal.

Cruz posted his full statement directly to fans:

“Ok, Trekkies — no one understands better than we do that we don’t need one corporation controlling massive amounts of power and storytelling. But that is EXACTLY what a merger between Paramount and WBD would do. The consequences are serious — for workers, for consumers, for our beloved Star Trek franchise and for our country. But this deal is not a done deal. And you are not powerless. You hear me? We are NOT powerless. So, here is your mission: Tomorrow, there are two protests against this merger. The first: at 9am ET in New York, head to the WB HQ while Warner Bros shareholders vote on the likely illegal Paramount Merger. The second, at 5:30pm in DC, outside the United States Institute of Peace where David Ellison is hosting a private dinner honoring TRUMP while seeking approval for this massive merger. Trekkies, there’s no one better suited for this moment than you. Let’s make our voices heard. Live Long and Stop the Merger so we can ALL PROSPER!”

Cruz joins a rapidly expanding coalition of Star Trek names who have signed onto the broader Hollywood opposition movement. Since the original open letter published by over 1,000 industry figures expressing “unequivocal opposition” to the merger, the signatory list has grown to over 4,000 names. J.J. Abrams, who directed the 2009 Star Trek reboot and its sequel, signed early alongside writer and producer Damon Lindelof, who worked on two of those films before sharing his own complicated thoughts on signing publicly.

The Trek contingent now includes Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher across The Next Generation, Jeri Ryan who portrayed Seven of Nine in both Voyager and Picard, Michelle Hurd who played Raffi Musiker in Picard, Shazad Latif and Osric Chau both from Discovery. All are directing fans toward blockthemerger.com, which serves as the central hub for organized opposition to the deal.

The open letter itself frames the stakes in industry terms: “This transaction would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries — and the audiences we serve — can least afford it. The result will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world. Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major U.S. film studios to just four.”

Paramount responded with a statement reaffirming commitments to releasing at least 30 films theatrically per year, continuing content licensing, and maintaining independent creative leadership. The company argued the merger “strengthens both consumer choice and competition, creating greater opportunities for creators, audiences and the communities they live and work in.”

The backdrop to all of this is complicated for Trek specifically. Paramount’s earlier merger with Skydance under David Ellison’s leadership already reshuffled the deck for the franchise’s streaming future. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was canceled after its first season - a show that never once appeared on Nielsen’s weekly top 10 streaming charts and landed a 35% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes despite an 87% critical score.

Tim Russ, who played Tuvok on Voyager, publicly speculated in a recent interview that the Skydance leadership may have played a role: “It could be that the guy that just took over all of that doesn’t like the woke message, cuz total Trumper is a Trump MAGA, you know, freak.” He admitted he had “no proof” but floated political motives anyway. Cruz’s mention of Ellison “honoring TRUMP” in his protest post signals that this political framing has become central to how Trek’s progressive stars are reading the current corporate landscape.

Whether that framing is accurate is another matter entirely. Starfleet Academy’s cancellation came with an announcement that the already-completed second season would serve as a series finale - suggesting the decision involved more than ideology. Poor viewership numbers and a deeply divided fanbase don’t require political conspiracy to explain.

The Paramount-WBD merger itself sits in genuinely complicated territory. The concerns about media consolidation are legitimate - four major film studios controlling the bulk of global entertainment production does raise real questions about creator leverage, content diversity, and market competition. California Attorney General Rob Bonta is reportedly scrutinizing the deal and considering legal action to block it, which the open letter’s signatories welcomed.

On the other hand, the entertainment industry faces real structural pressure from big tech, streaming fragmentation, and post-COVID audience behavior changes. Paramount’s argument that scale provides survival tools isn’t entirely without merit.

For the Trek cast, the merger represents a direct threat to a franchise that has already seen significant upheaval under Skydance’s stewardship. Their opposition is understandable from a self-interest standpoint regardless of the broader ideological framing around Trump and MAGA politics.

Whether Trekkies mobilize in the numbers Cruz is hoping for remains to be seen. The fanbase is as divided as any in science fiction - split between those who loved recent Trek output and those who spent years posting hashtags about the franchise’s decline.

Both groups probably agree they’d rather not see two massive media companies merge into one. Whether that shared concern translates into street protests outside Warner Bros. headquarters is the open question.

What do you think about Hollywood talent organizing against the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger?

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