I talk to antitrust pros about the AGs’ ‘strong’ suit as insiders assess the actual threat of the studios leaving L.A.
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Ankler illustration. David Becker/Getty Images for CinemaCon; Catherine Lane/Getty Images. |
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Summer doldrums? Not this year. California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other state AGs filed a lawsuit this morning against Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, seeking to block the $111 billion merger. Add to that a Semafor report that advisers close to PSKY CEO David Ellison are nudging him to consider moving the company out of California, and the town is buzzing again about whether this deal can still close, how strong the states’ case is and whether the California talk is a real threat or a bluff. I’ve been following Bonta’s moves on this merger since he first publicly spoke about possible plans to oppose it. Over the weekend, a former federal antitrust enforcer outlined one path for the suit; today, former FTC commissioner Alvaro Bedoya (a Biden appointee and senior adviser at the American Economic Liberties Project) assesses the case, while current and former executives close to Paramount and WBD weigh in on the prospect of a California exodus. Here’s what’s happening, what might happen next and what to watch as the lawsuit threatens to derail Hollywood’s biggest merger — and Ellison’s reported exit threat tests what remains of Paramount’s standing in town. What’s inside:
- Why Bedoya calls the states’ challenge a “strong suit”
- The “broken math” critics say could sink Ellison’s $111 billion deal
- Why Paramount insiders see the threat to leave California as more bluff than plan
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