FCC Commissioners Face Ethics Complaints for Taking Luxury Gifts From Paramount

Government watchdog groups have demanded investigations into potential ethics violations by Federal Communications Commission members who accepted luxury gifts from Paramount during its pursuit of a $111 billion acquisition. Democracy Defenders Fund and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington cited a ProPublica investigation revealing that CBS, or its parent company Paramount, had for years provided FCC commissioners with tickets to the Kennedy Center honors gala.

Commissioner Olivia Trusty received two tickets worth over $12,000 in December 2025, while FCC Chair Brendan Carr accepted tickets eight times, totaling over $75,000. The FCC approved the Paramount merger with Skydance, a deal involving major streaming services, broadcast channels, and cable networks. Ethics experts argue that accepting these gifts compromised the FCC's impartiality and should disqualify Trusty and Carr from future decisions on the merger.