Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Opponents React With Dismay About Settlement

Opponents to the Warner Bros. Discovery–Paramount megamerger reacted with alarm and dismay on Monday as news arrived that 12 states suing to block the deal had settled with David Ellison’s company.

On Monday details emerged that the deal included spending more on U.S. film production, making attempts to limit price increases at movie theaters, investing in workforce training and keeping both Warner Bros. and Paramount production lots open.

Before the settlement was even officially announced, the American Economic Liberties Project — a nonprofit devoted to antitrust regulation that had been involved in organizing worker town halls opposed to the merger — gave a fiery statement about the move.

“Today, billionaires have yet again bribed, censored, and bullied their way to the top,” the organization’s senior advisor Alvaro Bedoya, a former FTC commissioner, said in a statement. “As a result, a billionaire media conglomerate closely allied with the president will soon own one of its closest rivals, including some of the nation’s most critical news outlets. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund will co-own those outlets, too.”

Bedoya continued, “Layoffs will follow. People from L.A. to Atlanta will lose their jobs, small businesses will lose their contracts, your cable bill and movie ticket will be even more expensive.”

A report commissioned by an L.A. County department over the summer found that 4,500 job-years (a single job being performed over one year) are directly at risk and 2,661 job-years are indirectly at risk as a result of the merger. So were 3,204 jobs from unrelated businesses that nevertheless are supported by the companies, like florists and restaurants.

Meanwhile, the Block the Merger coalition called the settlement “a bad deal for the future of film, entertainment, independent journalism, and a strong democracy in this country.“ They added, “We are disappointed and angry that the interests of average Americans have been trampled to benefit oligarch billionaires” and vowed to continue their work to stop further media consolidation.

The actor Mark Ruffalo, who has been an outspoken opponent of the mega-merger, posted on the social media platform X on Monday summarized the deal in this way: “Gavin Newsom hands huge win to Trump and his billionaire cronies.“

As reports emerged of a state challenge to the merger in mid-July, before the 12 states officially announced their lawsuit, so did stories that Paramount CEO David Ellison would threaten to move the company out of California. That’s a move that California attorney general Rob Bonta called “blackmail.”

But as those reports circulated, and concern mounted over the business reaching a standstill as the parties to the suit waited for a trial date, several major Hollywood players began pushing for a settlement. The Hollywood unions IATSE and the DGA went public with their interest in a quicker deal, as did California Gov. Gavin Newsom, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and, in a reversal, movie theater chains. Pressure mounted on Bonta and his fellow state attorneys general.

It remains to be seen whether the fine print of Monday‘s settlement will satisfy those parties, through the Directors Guild of America was quick to offer a comment. “We congratulate the parties on reaching an agreement that addresses a number of critical concerns related to the Paramount/WBD merger,” the union stated.