Paramount agreed on Friday to stall its acquisition of Warner Bros. until next summer while a judge considers a lawsuit filed by a California-led coalition of 12 state attorneys general seeking to stop the merger.
The company said in its filings that it had reached an agreement with the states and would not move forward with the deal before the court issues a ruling or until June 1, 2027. Both parties are required to file a joint proposal by July 31 regarding the trial schedule.
The $110 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest Hollywood studios, which oversee streaming platforms HBO Max and Paramount+ as well as networks CNN and CBS.
The Writers Guild of America filed a similar lawsuit earlier this month to block the merger, alleging it would harm competition in the entertainment industry, resulting in fewer films and TV shows. (JS is represented by the Writers Guild of America East.)
Delaying the merger could be costly for Paramount, which agreed to pay Warner Bros. shareholders a $650 million fee every quarter that the deal doesn’t go through, starting in October.
Paramount characterized the delay as “a significant win” that provides a
”direct path to a trial based on the evidence,” in a statement to Huffpost.
“This is the fastest and clearest way to prove that this transaction is good for competition, good for consumers, and good for creators, a conclusion dozens of competition authorities around the world have already reached,” the statement continued. “Plaintiffs’ market definitions bear no relationship to the realities of today’s marketplace and cannot withstand scrutiny. We look forward to proving our case at trial.”
Among the 12 states suing to block the merger are New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Colorado.
New York Attorney General Letitia James characterized Friday’s decision as “a critical victory.”
“From the workers and artists who bring stories to life to the families who buy tickets at the box office, Paramount’s illegal takeover of Warner Bros. is a bad deal for all those who count on a competitive entertainment industry,” she said in a statement.
The Trump administration last summer approved the deal, noting it had no concerns about its effects on competitiveness in the industry.
Paramount CEO David Ellison’s father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, is a close ally of President Donald Trump and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his previous campaigns.
In fact, David Ellison hosted Trump at an “intimate” dinner honoring him amid the Justice Department’s review of the deal.
CBS News, under the control of David Ellison, has seen a rightward shift in recent months as he hired Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief. Weiss is a former New York Times columnist who claimed the Me Too movement went too far and hosted Trump ally Peter Thiel on her podcast.
Less than a year into her tenure leading CBS, Weiss ousted several veteran “60 Minutes” correspondents and producers, including longtime reporter Cecilia Vega, who recently claimed the network pushed her to cover stories that didn’t exist.
Concerns surround the future of Warner Bros.-owned CNN if the deal is approved. More than 200 journalists, academics and filmmakers signed a letter warning that the merger could lead to “improper political meddling” at the network, but David Ellison has vowed that “editorial independence will absolutely be maintained.”