California AG Cancels Paramount Talks: 'Stop Playing Games'
California AG Cancels Paramount Talks: 'Stop Playing Games'
The News
California Attorney General Rob Bonta called off Monday's settlement talks with Paramount over its $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, accusing the company of leaking and misrepresenting earlier private discussions.
Bonta pulled the plug late Sunday, hours before the two sides were due to sit down, according to The New York Times, which first reported the cancellation.
Bonta is leading a coalition of 12 attorneys general suing to block the deal. The merger is paused while the case moves toward trial.
Timeline
California and 11 other states sue Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery in an antitrust action, arguing the combined company would wield excessive power across the movie studio and cable television markets, Deadline and Mediaite reported.
A report submitted to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors warns that about 4,500 TV and film jobs could be lost, Deadline reported. The county's Department of Economic Opportunity also estimates thousands of indirect job losses and $547 million in lost regional tax revenue.
Paramount and representatives of the state AGs hold a preliminary meeting to set the agenda for August 24. The same day, Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly confirms talks are happening: "I know there are many meetings that are going on, and there's a lot of conversation."
Bonta cancels the Monday meeting.
The date a federal judge has set for trial, according to Deadline.
Reactions
"Not only did Paramount leak the alleged substance of settlement discussions, but they misrepresented these discussions, demonstrating a lack of good faith," Bonta said in a statement. "As soon as Paramount stops playing games and engages sincerely, my office is happy to meet again."
Paramount did not respond to Deadline's request for comment early Monday.
What the states wanted on the table, according to Deadline's sources: the sale of a swath of Warner Bros. Discovery's cable channels, keeping Paramount and Warner Bros. as two separate studios, and walling CEO David Ellison off from running the company he just bought. Reuters, citing the Wall Street Journal, reported over the weekend that California was expected to seek TV channel sales.
"David's not going to go along with any of that, and Bonta knows it," a studio executive told Deadline.
Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the DGA, IATSE and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra have all pushed the two sides to settle, Deadline reported, as worry builds over Hollywood jobs.
What's Next
No further settlement meetings were on the calendar as of Monday, Deadline reported.
Paramount has threatened to move Paramount Skydance to Georgia, Texas or Tennessee if the merger does not see significant talks or a resolution by October 1 — a threat Bonta has called "blackmail." Mediaite reported Paramount will begin owing Warner Bros. shareholders hundreds of millions of dollars in fees if the transaction is not closed by October.
Paramount has also asked the court for a $1.88 billion bond from the states to offset what it calls the "extraordinary losses" the suit could cost the company, after federal Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin earlier signaled she would reject one.
More
The deal would combine two of Hollywood's biggest studios along with their streaming operations and news outlets including CBS News and CNN. CNBC reported the antitrust fight could freeze media dealmaking well beyond this one transaction, with the industry waiting to see how the case lands. Deadline put the combined company's debt load at more than $80 billion.
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