Paramount CEO David Ellison is taking another page out of the Veruca Salt playbook of stomping your feet until you get what you want. Ellison has told executives of Paramount that he will begin the process of exiting California on October 1 unless State Attorney General Rob Bonta negotiates a settlement regarding the antitrust suit regarding the takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Bonta is leading a group of 12 state Attorneys General that have formed like Voltron in an antitrust lawsuit against Paramount in its attempted $110 billion (potentially $111 billion) takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount had agreed to pause any business with the takeover until the trial ends or June 2027. The trial has been set to begin on March 2.

Paramount also faces a lawsuit from the Writers Guild of America as well as one filed by shareholders.

Bonta has released a statement regarding the threat:

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.

If Ellison follows through with his threat, the relocation would begin with the company’s headquarters and followed by studio jobs. The rumor or Ellison and Paramount leaving the state have swirled for some time.

Paramount faces an increased cost to its deal if it’s not closed by September and the trial alone adds about $1.3 billion to the $110 billion price tag. If the deal falls apart altogether, there’s a $7 billion termination fee. Warner Bros. Discovery can walk if the deal isn’t closed by June 4.

Paramount has been attempting to wage a PR campaign in its favor with Ellison rallying his allies to write op-eds supporting the merger. But, Paramount seems to be hurting its cause by trying to play public opinion as opposed to making concessions with the Attorneys General that may lessen their opposition.

With each volley, and the further strain on the Ellison fortune, the chances of this deal collapsing seems to increase with each day.

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguin has set a trial date for March 2, 2027 for the antitrust lawsuit regarding Paramount‘s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The trial will conclude by March 19.

On July 13, a dozen attorneys general filed a lawsuit to stop the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance. The lawsuit raised antitrust concerns and a decrease of competition. On July 20, a temporary restraining order was granted that prevented the deal from “closing” or “consummating” or taking any steps that would integrate or consolidate the operations. That temporary restraining order was extended an additional two weeks and then on July 24 Paramount agreed to halt its acquisition while the court case played out, possibly to June 2027.

The delay is a big one because if the deal isn’t completed by September 30, the price increases 25 cents per share per quarter it’s not approved. That would add $627 million to the cost of the overall deal each quarter, or roughly $7 million per day. That means this will increase the cost roughly $1.3 billion if the trial goes the entire time.

Paramount Skydance‘s attempt to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery has even more stink surrounding it. Two government watchdog groups have requested for an investigation into ethics violations by Federal Communications Commission members. Members accepted luxury gala tickets while Paramount was working to get government approval for its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Democracy Defenders Fund and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington have cited an investigation by ProPublica about how CBS or its parent company (which is now Paramount) have given tickets to FCC commissioners to the Kennedy Center honors gala. CBS sponsors the event. That gift acceptance included while the Paramount/Warner Bros. deal was going through the government approval process as well as other major business from Paramount, including multiple mergers.

Commissioner Olivia Trusty‘s financial disclosure lists two tickets to the December 2025 gala worth more than $12,000. Trusty voted to approve Paramount’s merger with Skydance.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr‘s financial statements shows he accepted tickets eight times since 2017 which is over $75,000 in gifts. He sat in a private skybox at December’s gala with Paramount’s CEO David Ellison and other Paramount and CBS executives. Carr voted for the Paramount-Skydance merger.

According to ProPublica, seven of the ten commissioners who have served since 2016 accepted tickets with a value of more than $260,000.

Federal ethics rules ban employees from taking gifts from any entity that does business with, is regulated by, or seeks action from the agency.

The Democracy Defenders Fund says that Carr and Trusty broke the rules on accepting gifts or even criminal laws from accepting illegal gratuities. Carr and Trusty should be required to repay Paramount the “fair market value” for their gifts and their annual disclosures should not be certified until they do so. The organization is also requesting Carr to be disqualified from any decision concerning the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

Paramount had announced it was making a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery hours after the gala and Carr endorsed the deal three months later.

The Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal is on hold while a court case plays out between the company and a dozen attorneys general. The business deal is also facing other litigation as well as unknown decisions from other governments.

In a legal filing, Paramount and state attorneys general have reached an agreement to delay the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery to June 2027 or earlier if it makes it way through courts and a ruling is made before. The agreement needs to be approved by Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, who is overseeing the case.

On July 13, a dozen attorneys general filed a lawsuit to stop the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance. The lawsuit raised antitrust concerns and a decrease of competition. On July 20, a temporary restraining order was granted that prevented the deal from “closing” or “consummating” or taking any steps that would integrate or consolidate the operations. That temporary restraining order was extended an additional two weeks before today’s deal.

The delay throws the entire deal into chaos as it potentially increases the cost to Paramount. For each quarter the deal doesn’t close beginning in October 2026 the cost increases $650 million. If the decision really stretches out until June 2027, that’d increase the cost nearly $2 billion. Paramount has stated that it might have to rework its financing if the price increases and with the volatility in the Ellison’s net-worth due to Oracle stock prices, the deal’s financial situation became far more complicated.

Paramount described the delay as a “significant win” as it will give the company “a direct path to a trial based on the evidence,” a spokeswoman said. “This is the fastest and clearest way to prove that this transaction is good for competition, good for consumers, and good for creators.”

Below is California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s press release regarding the deal:

California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced securing an agreement with Warner Bros. and Paramount that would keep the entertainment titans from merging until June 1, 2027, or until after a decision by the court on the states’ claims, whichever comes first. If the court finds in favor of the states, the merger would be blocked pending appeal. Last week, Attorney General Bonta led a coalition of 12 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging the unlawful merger, and this week, he celebrated a critical win when he secured a temporary restraining order pausing the merger. The Warner Bros./ Paramount merger is expected to result in higher prices, lower content quality, and fewer movies and TV shows. The proposed $110 billion merger — the largest in Hollywood history — would combine two of Hollywood’s five major film distributors and two of the five major owners of basic cable channels, extinguishing competition between Paramount and Warner Bros., and inflicting substantial harm on movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences nationwide. 

“Our argument against this illegal merger is straightforward: When too few corporations have too much power in markets central to American life, it makes things more expensive, and it makes things worse,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Today’s agreement is great news for audiences, movie theaters, and the many people who write, build, and create the art, news, and entertainment so many of us enjoy. We are eager to continue to make our case in court and celebrate another tremendous win in our effort to ensure this unlawful merger never sees the light of day.”

As part of today’s deal, Warner Bros./Paramount agree not to merge until 5 days after a decision on the merits of the states’ challenge or until June 1, 2027, whichever comes earlier. If the court finds in favor of the states, the merger would be blocked pending appeal. If there is no merits determination by June 1, 2027, the states can file a motion for a preliminary injunction.

For more than a century, Warner Bros. and Paramount have stood astride the film and television industry as independent sources of creativity and competition. The lawsuit alleges that 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. The attorneys general allege that, if Warner Bros. and Paramount are allowed to merge, it would lessen competition in three markets: film distribution, anticipated blockbuster film distribution, and licensing cable TV channels.

And the release from the office of Attorney General Letitia James:

Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of 11 other attorneys general today secured a months-long halt to Paramount Skydance Corp.’s (Paramount) $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (Warner Bros.). On July 13, Attorney General James and the coalition sued Paramount and Warner Bros., alleging that their merger would illegally reduce competition throughout the film and television industries, harming workers, consumers, and businesses. Attorney General James and the coalition today secured a stipulation from Paramount and Warner Bros. that will delay the merger until after a court ruling on the merits of the lawsuit or June 1, 2027, whichever is earlier.

“From the workers and artists who bring stories to life to the families who buy tickets at the box office, Paramount’s illegal takeover of Warner Bros. is a bad deal for all those who count on a competitive entertainment industry,” said Attorney General James. “Halting this merger while our case proceeds is a critical victory in our efforts to uphold the law and protect the film and television industries. I look forward to continuing our case to stop this illegal merger.”

On July 20, Attorney General James and the coalition won a temporary restraining order preventing Paramount and Warner Bros. from carrying out their merger. Under the stipulation announced today, Paramount and Warner Bros. will continue to remain separate companies until five days after the court’s decision on the merits of the case or June 1, 2027, whichever comes earlier.

Joining Attorney General James in this case are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.

For New York, this matter is being handled by Assistant Attorneys General Pratik Agarwal, Morgan Feder, and Will Margrabe and Attorney General Fellow Jaya Mantovani, all of the Antitrust Bureau, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Elinor Hoffmann and Deputy Bureau Chief Amy McFarlane, and with the assistance of Chief Economist Chitra Marti. The Antitrust Bureau is part of the Division for Economic Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Christopher D’Angelo and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.