The Writers Guild of America has fired back at Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison after he threatened to start pulling Paramount out of California on Oct. 1 if California AG Rob Bonta refused to come to the bargaining table and settle the antitrust suit to stop the studio’s acquisition of Warner Bros.
“By threatening to leave the state because it doesn’t want the government to enforce the law, Paramount further proves the danger of its outsized power over the industry and what that will mean for writers and the creative community,” the WGA told Variety in a statement. “This type of behavior is precisely why the merger should be blocked.”
The WGA, along with Bonta and his coalition of 12 states, is suing to block the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. Filed jointly with the WGA West and East branches, the guild’s suit claims the merger violates antitrust law and would inflict irreparable harm on industry scribes.
The AG’s lawsuit claims the transaction violates the Clayton Act by diminishing competition in three key markets: wide-release theatrical distribution, “top-grossing” theatrical distribution and basic cable licensing. Bonta, in response to the news that Paramount may split town, wrote on X Tuesday, “In a span of weeks, Paramount agreed to halt the merger until a court decision or until June 2027, asked for a November trial, and is now back with another attempt to blackmail the state into letting an illegal deal through. Paramount has lost the plot as it continues to lose in court. It didn’t work the first time — on the eve of our July lawsuit — and it won’t work this time.”
Oct. 1 is the day when Paramount will begin paying Warner Bros. shareholders a $7 billion ticking fee for every day that passes without a closed deal. The AG’s lawsuit is set to go to trial on March 2, 2027. If no settlement is reached, Paramount would be on the hook for over $1 billion to WBD shareholders by the end of the trial.
Ellison wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed that he believes the reason the states are opposed to a combined Paramount-Warner Bros. is not because of industry consolidation, but because Ellison would have control over CNN if the two studios were allowed to merge. During the acquisition process Ellison has made no secret that he is a friend of President Donald Trump, a longtime critic of the network. The turbulence behind the scenes at CBS News and its marquee program, “60 Minutes,” has also stoked fear that CNN may be mismanaged under Ellison’s control.
“Great news organizations like CNN and CBS News are here to tell it straight down the middle,” Ellison wrote. “That requires newsrooms that reflect the whole world, not one side of it. And it requires independence. Our journalists will continue to answer to the facts and to all the people they serve — not to any party or cause. These were founding principles for both CNN and CBS News, for legends like Ted Turner and Edward R. Murrow, and it is exactly that kind of independence that has always fueled the greatness of ‘60 Minutes.’”