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ACTIVISTS EXPOSE NETWORK’S ALIGNMENT WITH TRUMP AND CONSERVATIVE PROPAGANDA

NEW YORK, NY — This morning, activists with Extinction Rebellion NYC staged a disruptive protest inside Paramount Global’s headquarters, home to CBS News, to denounce the network’s alignment with Trump and the far-right agenda outlined in Project 2025. Nine activists locked arms in front of Paramount’s lobby escalators, backed by a massive “REBEL OR DIE” banner and smoke flares, while chanting “CBS sells lies — people die!”

The action comes as CBS executives angle to position the network for sale to billionaire Larry Ellison, a Trump ally and Oracle co-founder. Activists warn this looming deal is not just business—it’s part of a deliberate effort to consolidate U.S. media under far-right influence, normalizing propaganda and silencing dissent.

CBS is not just failing the public; it is actively collaborating with forces dismantling civic society. By platforming fossil fuel lobbyists, Trump surrogates, and canceling popular shows, the network has signaled to the Trump administration that it is a willing partner in reshaping American media to serve authoritarian power.

Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term, outlines plans to seize control of federal agencies, roll back climate protections, and weaponize state power against dissent. Central to its strategy is a compliant media landscape—one CBS appears eager to provide.

This morning’s disruption is part of a growing wave of actions targeting media conglomerates that have failed in their most basic responsibility: telling the truth. The public deserves more than distraction and spin while the planet burns. If action is not taken now, climate catastrophe threatens more than just the structures currently at risk.

WHY “REBEL OR DIE”?

We’ve already surpassed the 1.5°C threshold that was meant to keep our planet safe. We now face a rapidly accelerating crisis that threatens all life on Earth. To minimise the damage, we must halt biodiversity loss and cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero—urgently and decisively.

The climate and ecological emergency leaves us with no middle ground. To rebel is to choose life. It is to reject a system that profits from destruction and to demand the immediate action that governments and corporations have failed to deliver. There is no time for compromise or half-measures; the science is clear, and the stakes could not be higher.

But rebellion is not only resistance — it is hope in action. It is ordinary people stepping forward, together, to protect one another and safeguard a liveable future.

PHOTOS AND VIDEOS

You can see photos and videos from the action here. XR NYC owns the media in this folder, and you have permission to use these media with attribution to "Extinction Rebellion NYC".

Additional footage is available here. XR NYC does not own the footage in this post.

QUOTES

“Mark Zuckerberg and the class of CEO’s he belongs to know full well the impacts their businesses have on our planet. Why else would he have built a bunker island in the middle of the ocean? They will pay the price of change today socially, or tomorrow existentially. We are hoping to force the first option, for life on Earth,” said Greg Schwedock, an Extinction Rebellion activist who took part in the action.

“Is Mark Zuckerberg, one of the richest people on the planet, really more afraid of Trump than of the collapse of the world his kids will inherit? When will he choose to stand for the future instead of his bottom line?” said Devin Lilly, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.
“The hypocrisy is staggering. Trillion-dollar firms built on innovation, companies we all rely on, are now quietly bankrolling a regime that’s dismantling democracy, gutting climate action, and widening inequality. And it’s the very people who made them rich—users, workers, the public—who are left to pay the price,” said Will Regan, an Extinction Rebellion activist who took part in the action.
“The math is clear. There is no wealth to be preserved, no markets to expand, and no profits to be had on a planet that’s burning, drowning, and collapsing. Investing in false solutions and ignoring the climate emergency isn’t just a moral failure—it’s economic self-sabotage,” said Miles Grant, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion
“Corporations and governments are embedded in physical systems. If the climate destabilizes — if supply chains are disrupted, if insurance becomes unaffordable, if agricultural regions become dusts — then it doesn’t matter how good your quarterly earnings look. The entire system breaks down,” said Nate Smith, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.

About Extinction Rebellion

Extinction Rebellion is an international movement that uses nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action on the climate and nature emergency.

Extinction Rebellion exists because the conventional approaches: voting, writing to politicians, lobbying, and signing petitions, have failed. Powerful political and economic interests prevent change, as does our outdated political system itself. Our strategy is therefore one of nonviolent, disruptive civil disobedience – in short, it is a strategy of rebellion.

Climate boiling is here and now. It’s happening all around us, and it hits historically vulnerable communities hardest of all. Extinction Rebellion demands that all of us, especially major institutions and governments, tell the truth about the ongoing Sixth Mass Extinction. Extinction Rebellion believes that, when faced with the government’s criminal inaction, it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, through peaceful civil disobedience .

Internationally, Extinction Rebellion has been demanding that those with power act now to halt the worst outcomes of the climate catastrophe currently unfolding. Unlike other climate advocacy groups, Extinction Rebellion understands that we must go beyond politics and establish Citizens’ Assemblies. Citizens’ Assemblies are deliberative bodies that are, like juries, formed of randomly selected members of the public. Assembly members hear expert testimony and develop recommendations on specific policy issues. Only through this method can we achieve the fair and just transition we need.

Leading by example, Extinction Rebellion is fighting for a more stable, sustainable world.

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ACTIVISTS DISRUPT CBS HEADQUARTERS