Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav has acknowledged that the pending takeover by Paramount has been "challenging" for staff, even as he praised employees for keeping the business running strongly amid the uncertainty. His comments, made during WBD's Q2 earnings call, come as the merger faces delay: an antitrust case brought by 12 US states is set to go to trial in March 2027, and some WBD executives are privately hoping the litigation slows or halts the deal, which the two companies had originally hoped to close by the third quarter of this year.

Zaslav told investors he was "quite inspired" by the culture at WBD, noting that close to 40,000 employees continue coming to work each day and citing a recent six-week tour of Europe where he saw people "working extremely hard". He also highlighted ongoing DC Studios projects, including James Gunn's Superman film "Man of Tomorrow", Matt Reeves' Batman work, the upcoming "Clayface" and the HBO series "Lanterns", as evidence the business is pushing forward despite the merger uncertainty.