California and New York Preparing to Sue to Block Paramount from Acquiring Warner Bros: Report

Jae C. Hong/AP photo

A group of states led by California and New York is preparing to sue to block Paramount Skydance from acquiring Warner Bros., Reuters reported on Friday.

Last year’s merger between Paramount and Skydance already sparked criticism over concerns about antitrust issues and the impact of centralizing control of major media and entertainment companies. The criticism grew as Paramount settled a lawsuit President Donald Trump had filed against CBS News over a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which numerous legal experts had assessed as a fundamentally weak case on First Amendment grounds. It was widely speculated that political motivations overrode Paramount’s initial instincts to fight the litigation, because the company needed approval from Trump’s FCC chair Brendan Carr to get the merger to go through.

Post-merger, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison’s decision to bring on Free Press founder Bari Weiss as the editor in chief for CBS News has further ruffled feathers.

Weiss’ tenure has been rocky, to say the least, with CBS News and its programs sometimes seeming to be the news more than reporting it. She was lambasted both internally and in the media for delaying a 60 Minutes on the CECOT prison facility in El Salvador, plus the departure of several longtime staffers and other upheaval with the show.

Anderson Cooper not only rejected Weiss’ offer to take over the anchor desk for CBS Evening News but also declined an offer to renew his contract with 60 Minutes.

And the person Weiss ultimately tapped for that anchor spot, Tony Dokoupil, has generated a series of negative and unlucky stories ranging from tech snafus to accusations of bias.

After completing the merger with Skydance, Paramount next set its sights on Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN. Elected officials like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have publicly objected to the merger as an “antitrust disaster,” and more than 1,000 Hollywood actors, directors, producers, and other entertainment industry professionals signed an open letter objecting to the proposed merger because it “would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries — and the audiences we serve — can least afford it.”

According to the report by Reuters’ Jody Godoy, “sources familiar with the matter” have said that a group of states including California and New York “are preparing a lawsuit to block” the merger, and expect to file it “in the coming weeks.”

The sources did not specify which other states would be involved in the lawsuit, which Godoy described as “the boldest move yet by the states in their effort to be at the forefront ​of U.S. antitrust enforcement.” It seems likely that the participating states would be limited to those with Democratic-majority state governments, or at least Democratic state attorneys general, due to Trump’s support for Ellison and his takeover of Paramount — not to mention his frequent attacks on CNN and open praise for the idea of an ideological takeover of the network.

On Thursday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) bashed Trump for his administration’s “abdication” of federal antitrust enforcement, and has expressed concerns about the merger. A spokesperson for Bonta’s office told Reuters that California’s investigation of the proposed merger is still active and declined to offer further comment.

A lawsuit like this challenging the merger is not guaranteed to succeed, Godoy’s report noted, but is likely to cause at least several months of delay, especially if the plaintiffs can convince a judge to issue an injunction pausing the merger while the litigation proceeds.

The merger is also still under review by the Department of Justice, which sent subpoenas in late March ” seeking information on how the merger would affect studio output, content rights, streaming competition and movie theaters,” wrote Godoy, but it is expected to reach a decision soon.

“We will continue to fight against any ​attempt to derail ⁠a deal that plainly benefits consumers, creators, and the industry as a whole,” a Paramount spokesperson said.

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