California AG Rob Bonta Wants Paramount to ‘Stop Playing Games’

With multiple hourglasses running out of sand, the Warnermount merger is still in limbo. California attorney general Rob Bonta canceled a potential settlement meeting with Paramount CEO David Ellison that was scheduled for Monday, per the New York Times. The meeting about Ellison’s proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. was intended to be a preliminary discussion, but now even the first steps have been stalled. In a statement, Bonta accused Paramount of leaking the details for the meeting to the press. “Not only did Paramount leak the alleged substance of settlement discussions, but they misrepresented these discussions, demonstrating a lack of good faith,” Bonta said. “As soon as Paramount stops playing games and engages sincerely, my office is happy to meet again.”

Bonta is leading a coalition of 12 states suing to block the Warnermount merger. The trial is scheduled for March 2, 2027, which is a long time away. The looming trial keeps both companies in a strange holding zone for an extended period, and the lengthy wait costs Ellison money: His contract to buy Warner Bros. included a ticking fee that requires him to pay roughly $650 million per every quarter that the deal does not go through, beginning on September 30. In order to get the upper hand, Ellison has claimed that, if there is no settlement by October 1, he will move Paramount from Bonta’s California to Tennessee. Even Governor Gavin Newsom has indicated that he wants a settlement. “I was appreciative, earlier this week, when you heard the attorney general himself say he’d prefer this settled in the boardroom, not the courtroom,” Newsom said on August 21. “So I think there’s some universal sentiment there, if that’s possible.” For now, it is not possible.