Multistate lawsuit comes as pressure against the merger continues to grow

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Block the Merger coalition applauds California Attorney General Rob Bonta for leading a coalition of 12 state attorneys general, including Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington, to take crucial action to investigate and block the dangerous Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The suit charges that combining two of the largest media and entertainment companies in the United States would substantially weaken competition, reduce jobs and wages for film and television workers, raise prices for consumers, and concentrate control over what Americans watch in fewer hands than at any point in the modern history of the industry.

The lawsuit follows months of organizing and advocacy by the Block the Merger coalition, whose open letter urging state attorneys general to act has drawn thousands of signatures from actors, writers, producers and workers across the entertainment industry.

Since the initial release of the open letter, support for the effort to block the merger has swelled to include thousands of leading voices across the film, entertainment, journalism and pro-democracy landscape, all concerned about the merger's harm to free speech, independent journalism, creative competition and industry jobs.

Additionally, international pressure continues to build on both sides of the Atlantic, with the UK’s ongoing CMA investigation and the Culture Secretary's recent indication that she is likely to intervene on public interest grounds.

"This merger poses a direct threat to free speech and creative competition in our country and beyond, and it should be blocked," said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. "I applaud Attorney General Bonta and this multi-state coalition for filing this critical lawsuit and thank every individual who courageously spoke out against this dangerous transaction. Because of their courage, we have a real chance to stop what had been considered a done deal, blessed by the compromised Trump Department of Justice. Momentum is on our side. Together, we can block this merger."

“I spent the last month meeting with the workers and business owners who’d be hit with this deal,” said Alvaro Bedoya, senior advisor at American Economic Liberties Project, who just completed town halls on the merger in Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta. “The rich guys who run Paramount can say what they want, but the people who actually work for them know that this will kill jobs and screw over the small businesses that are the lifeblood of this industry. I hope the states win and win fast, because these people need it.”

“This illegal merger would mean layoffs for artists and workers, higher prices for consumers, and the death of Hollywood,” said Matt Stoller, research director of the American Economic Liberties Project. “State enforcers have done the right thing in seeking to block it. It is time to stop oligarchs from strip-mining our culture and selling America off for parts. Blocking this mega-merger is the first step in doing so.”

“The Paramount-Warner Bros. merger is emblematic of the corruption of the Trump administration,” said Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress. “A close ally of President Trump gets the Department of Justice to approve this deal over the objections of career officials in order to fuel a merger that will limit choices of Americans and probably raise their prices –- and by controlling CBS and CNN, damage democracy as well. The state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, are waging an indispensable fight on behalf of the American people.”

"For months, this merger was treated like it was unstoppable. Today proves it never was,” said Jane Fonda, co-founder of the relaunched Committee for the First Amendment. “Thousands of artists, journalists and everyday people refused to accept that CEOs who cozy up to the administration should decide what news and stories Americans have access to. This is what happens when people organize — a deal everyone once called inevitable hits a wall. We're grateful to the attorneys general who stood up today, we are going to continue fighting, and we hope this sends a message to the administration and its allies."

“President Trump and his cronies are waving this anti-competitive deal through because David Ellison has demonstrated time and again that he will leverage his media empire to silence Trump’s critics and amplify MAGA propaganda. That’s corruption, plain and simple," said Free Press Co-CEO Jessica J. González. "Any merger of this scale would diminish creativity and diversity in entertainment, weaken journalists’ ability to hold those in power accountable and further endanger our democracy. We applaud the attorneys general for standing up for consumers."

"This lawsuit is an important and encouraging step toward giving this mega-merger the scrutiny it demands. Combining two of the largest buyers of film and television content reduces competition for independent work and concentrates buyer power in an already concentrated marketplace," said Jax Deluca, interim executive director of Future Film Coalition. "Filmmakers, distributors, exhibitors and film crews are already feeling these impacts, from decreased opportunities for work, reduced negotiating leverage, and narrowed pathways to affordably reach audiences at scale. We encourage the attorneys general to continue examining the full impacts of this transaction, especially for those operating as small, independently-owned businesses within the film and television industry, across all fifty states."

"Independent filmmakers, not the major studios, make most of the documentary journalism the public relies on. A merger this size narrows the space they have to work in and the audiences they can reach. We're grateful the attorneys general refused to treat that as the price of the deal," said Dominic Willsdon, executive director of the International Documentary Association.

"If permitted to proceed, this merger will jack up prices for consumers, cost workers their jobs and, most importantly, limit viewpoints aired on the major media and in movies and creative outlets. It is an anti-free speech merger. The good news is, the fate of the merger does not rest with a compromised U.S. Department of Justice, which should have rushed to block, not rubber stamp, the merger. State attorneys general have stepped up to enforce the law – and with the facts and law on their side, we expect the court to block this dangerous corporate combination," said Public Citizen Co-President Robert Weissman.

“We strongly support the twelve attorneys general from across the country brave enough to defend and enforce our country’s antitrust laws,” said Writers Guild of America East President Tom Fontana. “The proposed Paramount Skydance merger with Warner Bros. Discovery would create an alarming amount of consolidation and contraction and cause irreparable harm to our members. People will lose their jobs, their income, their homes. The damage this deal would do to America’s entertainment and news industries would be an absolute, unmitigated disaster. This merger must be blocked.”

“This industry has had a front-row seat to the harms of consolidation, with hundreds of billions wasted on mergers that promise benefits and instead leave us all worse off. This is one of the worst proposed mergers we’ve seen,” said Writers Guild of America West President Michele Mulroney. “We’ve been very clear from day one that combining Warner Bros. Discovery with Paramount threatens our members and this industry. We applaud California Attorney General Rob Bonta for leading a coalition of attorneys general to block this catastrophic merger.”

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