Sensational FUD and suspicion. It looks more like they're trying to ensure Scala has actual, independent governance separate from frameworks and show that TypeSafe/Lightbend/whatever isn't a SPoF nor going to dictate its evolution exclusively. Moreover, the anecdotal sources linked indicate Java and Scala parity. Plus, hiring one Java evangelist isn't sufficient to declare a strategic shift in focus... and I don't see any hints about "deprecating Scala" anything.