Trump Honored at Ellison's Peace Institute Dinner

0:00It's April 23rd, I'm Cory with the story. This is Entertainment and Celebrity News today, driven by AI and built for the culture. President Donald Trump gets honored at a dinner tonight, hosted by Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison at the newly named Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. This goes down Thursday, April 23rd at 7pm right near Washington's Kennedy Center. Ellison's timing is key. He's pushing for Justice Department approval on his $111 billion merger with Warner Brothers. Discovery, CNN's parent company. The deal just hit another milestone with stockholder approval and Paramount hopes to wrap it up soon to build a massive new media giant. Ellison runs CBS News 2 and reports say some of their correspondence joined Trump at the dinner. White House and Justice Department stay quiet on details, but acting AG Todd Blanche, Trump's old lawyer, leads the review. Hollywood's pushing back hard, thousands of stars like Brian Cranston, Glenn Close, Jane

1:02Fonda, and Robert De Niro signed a letter urging attorneys. General to block the merger. Protests hit Warner Brothers headquarters this morning with more planned outside the Institute tonight from anti-corruption groups. Democrats are fired up too. Senator Cory Booker warns it'll create a family run empire, too cozy with Trump, slashing jobs and hiking prices. Elizabeth Warren echoed actors like Ben Stiller, saying it squeezes creativity and democracy in an already packed industry. As this plays out, I stay on the Justice Department. Fresh off green lighting, Ellison's last big Paramount deal could shape the future of news and entertainment under one roof.