In case you didn’t already know as you pack up for one of the last weekends of summer, Paramount CEO David Ellison really wants to make sure this afternoon that everybody is clear those pesky state Attorney Generals and their antitrust lawsuit are ruining a really good $111 billion thing, and now even Mexico agrees with him.
“Paramount and WBD could and would close today and begin delivering the benefits recognized by regulators around the world, theater owners and others across the industry but for the actions of just 12 state attorneys general,” declares a Friday news dump by any other name from Paramount as America’s immediate south neighbor joins “68 countries worldwide, including the European Union, UK, Australia, Canada, Brazil, China, COMESA, the U.S. Department of Justice” in approving the increasingly bitter merger
“While we remain confident that the law and the facts are on our side, we have offered commitments and concessions and remain open to working constructively with the State AGs to find a path forward in the interest of our employees and the creative community in California and across the world – just as we have with the regulators in 68 countries worldwide,” Ellison is quoted as saying.
Read today’s full “news announcement” from Paramount Skydance here
The long anticipated action from California’s Rob Bonta, New York’s Leitia James and other Blue State AGs against the MAGA inclined Ellison, Para and WBD was filed on July 14. The WGA leapt on the bandwagon with a suit of their own. With a truncated TRO in place, Oakland-based U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín set a two-week trial to start on March 2 2027.
Both sides have consequently dug legal and PR trenches to snipe at the other and rally endorsements. To that Team Ellison has dribble out a series of executive elite themed leaks in recent weeks, including leaving the home of Hollywood for the likes of Texas, Tennessee or Georgia.
There are no settlement talks, though Paramount’s legal boss Makan Delrahim has said “everything is on the table” to make a deal with Sacramento and Albany.
To that Paramount claims they have submitted a number of concessions to the AGs, but they need some response by October 1 — which is when a $7 million a day ticking fee to WBD shareholders kicks in. That ticking fee, potential further payouts and the declining net worth of Papa Ellison and Oracle founder Larry, adds a multi-billion dollar bill for Paramount to the $80 billion debt the combo company will have on Day 1.
To that in perspective, the penalties bill that could exceed $10 billion, and see no ParaBros in the end.
So, reiterating a lot of the same talking points and math the company has been making for months, and offering none of the specifics the likes of the Teamsters and others have demanded, we now have today’s self-styled “news announcement” from the Melrose lot.
An announcement that is taking the blame game to great heights or lows, depending on your POV and who is blackmailing who — to paraphrase Bonta banger of earlier this week.
“Rather than support a stronger Hollywood and deliver tangible commitments to invest in for the benefit of labor, talent and other industry participants, the current path the 12 State AGs are on additional delay for a trial beyond the engagement of the last 9 months will impose needless costs from penalty fees, litigation expenses and business disruption,” Paramount asserts today.
Instead of proclaiming investment in L.A. production (which the company received nearly $38 million in Golden State tax credits for earlier this week), Paramount pours gasoline on the fear fire.
“As a business with many stakeholders, including pension and state retirement funds, Paramount is required to consider how it can absorb the unnecessary additional financial costs while preserving the longer-term strength of the combined company,” the over 110-year old studio states. “The better path would be to resolve this through a settlement that would serve the interests of workers, consumers and the consumers in each of the 12 states.”
Let’s just say, with a bit less ominous implications, the top law enforcement officials of some of the biggest and richest states in the union aren’t buying into Paramount’s premise.
“We’ve made our legal position clear: As it stands today, the proposed Warner Bros./Paramount merger will mean higher costs, less competition, lower wages, job cuts, and fewer movies and TV shows,” a spokesperson from the California AGs’ office told Deadline in reaction to Paramount’s Friday release
“This merger violates long-standing federal antitrust law,” Bonta’s team added in language we’ve all heard dozens of times before the last month or so. “Further, as the court indicated when it ruled in its July temporary restraining order our case is likely to succeed on its merits. The California Department of Justice remains committed to enforcing the law.”
Looks like, as Hollywood packs up for one of the last weekends of the summer, we have a very sticky stalemate.
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