Paramount escalates threat to leave California as Dem AG's antitrust lawsuit stalls Warner Bros merger
Paramount's new chief is threatening to move his studio out of California if the Golden State's attorney general doesn't come to the table to resolve the high-stakes antitrust lawsuit, Fox News Digital has confirmed.
Paramount CEO David Ellison is serious about relocating his headquarters to a more business-friendly state he's been in contact with like Georgia, Tennessee or Texas if California AG Rob Bonta, who is leading 11 other states to block Paramount's $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), doesn't negotiate a settlement by Oct. 1. Puck News first reported about Ellison's potential exit plans.
Ellison, who will soon be forced to pay WBD a multimillion-dollar "ticking fee" if the merger stays in limbo, remains convinced that Paramount would be victorious in court — except the antitrust trial isn't taking place until March 2027, meaning his company will have to likely fork over at least $650 million quarterly to WBD if nothing is settled until next spring.
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As Puck News reported, Ellison could move Paramount — and potentially Warner Bros. if he ultimately merges both companies — out of California "regardless of the eventual outcome of the case." Ellison has even developed a five-year plan that would relocate the vast majority of jobs out of the state while still maintaining a footprint in Hollywood.
Bonta slammed the latest Paramount buzz, renewing his accusation of attempted "blackmail" by the studio.
"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," Bonta wrote on X. "It didn't work the first time — on the eve of our July lawsuit — and it won't work this time."
"This illegal merger will result in higher costs, fewer options, and fewer people making movies. My office remains committed to stopping illegal consolidation and protecting a vibrant California economy for businesses that play by the rules," he added.
However, while speaking at a Politico conference later in the day, Bonta did signal a willingness to negotiate with Paramount if "structural remedies" are implemented by the company.
Bonta's lawsuit claims the merger would "lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S."
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District for the Northern District of California, claims the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which holds that mergers that may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly are illegal. Both sides argued their case last week but Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín waited until Monday to temporarily delay the merger.
The merger, which was set to close this year, is now being delayed until at least June 2027.
Bonta has faced accusations of a conflict of interest from his Republican challenger for California attorney general, Michael Gates, who questioned whether a financial connection to Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings' family influenced Bonta's decision to bring the lawsuit.
"Rob Bonta has turned his taxpayer-funded office into a favor factory for his political bosses and donors. He's pursuing politically-motivated litigation against a competitor for a company that's bankrolled his PAC," Gates told Fox News Digital.
Campaign-finance records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Hastings' wife, Patty Quillin, contributed $1 million to Smart Justice California Action Fund on March 16, 2022. The independent committee was working to boost Bonta and other progressive prosecutors.
Netflix was previously in negotiations to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery before Paramount made its offer.
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Paramount's bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery would be a historic deal merging two major Hollywood studios under one corporate umbrella as well as all of their television networks, including CBS and CNN. Critics of the deal believe such a merger would crush the entertainment industry and lead to mass layoffs. Some have also been vocal against Ellison and his billionaire father, Larry Ellison, who is heavily financing the deal and is a close ally to President Donald Trump.
Liberal critics in particular also claim that, as a result of the deal, CNN would be given a MAGA-bent to its coverage, and it would be run by current CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who has been harshly criticized by some media liberals. The Paramount CEO has previously assured that CNN would maintain editorial independence following the merger.
In an op-ed published in The New York Times, Ellison addressed the "speculation" about what would happen to CNN under his ownership.
"I have regularly voted for candidates of both parties; I hold some views that would be called conservative and others that would be called liberal, just like most Americans; and when it comes to our news operations, I do not aspire to lead these companies to bend their newsrooms to my views. I believe that news should be based on facts and truth," Ellison wrote.
"Great news organizations like CNN and CBS News are here to tell it straight down the middle," he added. "That requires newsrooms that reflect the whole world, not one side of it. And it requires independence."
The deal would follow Ellison's $8 billion purchase last year of Paramount, merging the studio with Skydance Media.
Fox News Digital reached out to Paramount and Bonta's office for comment.
Fox News' CJ Womack contributed to this report.