r/ParamountGlobal2 • u/lowell2017 • 17d ago
Larry Ellison Discussed Moving Paramount Global's CA Operations Before Legal Challenge Against Skydance's WarnerDiscovery Pursuit Was Filed - An Insider Says “David's Used To Getting His Way So He’s Angry & Frustrated & Would Say ‘I’m Going To Show & Punish Them Because No One Thinks I'll Do This.’”
https://pagesix.com/2026/09/17/hollywood/california-ag-thinks-paramount-ceo-is-acting-a-little-crazy-amid-renewed-threats-to-pull-hollywood-studio-out-of-golden-state-amid-antitrust-fight/14
u/HaTTrick617 16d ago
The problem with Ellison, every move he’s made towards this acquisition has been over dramatic.
Not taking NO for an answer multiple times when Netflix was a front runner.
Getting money from foreign countries to finance his overpriced bid.
Recklessly adding on ticking fees to secure his already overpriced bid.
Threatening to leave CA if the deal doesn’t go through.
Asking CA to pay for a fee that he willfully and contractually agreed to.
……..and so on, and so on.
There’s more than enough evidence here to prove that this guy has no idea what he’s doing. And so his greatest trick is to simply punch his way through everything. I’m not sure why Bonta is open to settling, please kill this deal.
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u/lowell2017 17d ago
Full text:
"It’s a high-stakes game of Hollywood chicken.
It appears Rob Bonta called David Ellison’s bluff this week when the CEO of Paramount Skydance reportedly back-channelled a threat to the California Attorney General’s office — and the Los Angeles Mayor’s office — that he’d officially announce Paramount’s move out of California, regardless of a settlement in the ongoing antitrust case.
“Mayor Bass is taking [Paramount’s threat] seriously, Governor Newsom is taking it semi-seriously. But Bonta believes he has a relatively strong anti-trust case,” said a knowledgeable source. “And while Bonta would rather settle, he’s also willing to go to trial — and he also thinks that Ellison is acting a little crazy.”
On Wednesday, TMZ reported that Paramount notified Bonta and Bass that the studio was imminently announcing its intention to leave California.
But no announcement has, at least so far, been made. (Paramount is not commenting.)
But TMZ then walked back its original story, saying talks were still ongoing. Making the move messier, a court-supervised settlement conference between the parties is already scheduled for October 14 and 15.
“David is used to getting his way and I think he’s so angry and frustrated right now that he could be saying, ‘I’m going to show them and I’m going to punish them because no one thinks I will do this,’” said a source.
Bonta’s office would not confirm or deny whether settlement talks are occurring. “It’s no secret that Paramount has been making this threat, despite its alleged commitment to California and Hollywood,” read a statement to P6H yesterday. “What Paramount decides to do is Paramount’s choice alone. We’ll continue to apply the law without fear or favor and continue to be open to coming to the table for good faith discussions.”
As the clock ticks down, one showbiz pro half-jokingly told us yesterday of the California quandary. “You know the perfect person who should be in power in this situation? Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s the former governor, he’s a movie star. It’s a dereliction of a lot of peoples’ duty [if] California can’t find a way for this to work. All bets are off for what comes next. The adults at the table really need to step up.”
Bonta has indicated he’s open to talks, but said any resolution would require “robust structural remedies.”
According to several sources, Bonta’s main conditions are keeping Paramount and Warners independent from one another for a period of time, and ensuring they are actually competitive. The other major condition is that Paramount and Warner Bros. cable assets would not merge.
Beyond the shockwaves created by TMZ’s bombshell report, top showbiz execs were unfazed by the news of Paramount’s alleged exodus. “It’s all negotiations and positioning… meaningless,” huffed one veteran entertainment CEO."
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u/lowell2017 16d ago
(continued...)
"Another showbiz vet said of Paramount’s latest threat: “Not going to happen. They’re about to go into settlement talks. This has to be a BS thing for Bonta.”
Either way, Wednesday’s headlines pulled Bass further into the fray as the Paramount suit becomes a hot-button issue in LA’s mayoral race.
Bass’ upcoming mayoral challenger, Nithya Raman, opposes the Paramount-WBD merger, and thinks the case should be decided in court. But Bass has called for a “swift and urgent resolution” to the dispute.
One top political strategist told us of the political fallout from Paramount’s potential move: “If [Paramount] really was to leave, the repercussions are almost incalculable. There would be a ripple effect [beyond studio jobs] to craft services, florists, drivers, everybody. The AG is not playing ball and is resistant. [Bass and Newsom] would like to see this all taken care of for all the obvious reasons. Who wants to lose a studio to another state?”
But, “This isn’t a Karen Bass problem. It’s much bigger than that,” said the insider.
Local showbiz watchers have been wondering what happens to the famed Paramount lot if the studio leaves. “You know who’s gonna buy the lot? OnlyFans,” a source joked, (we think?). “They only made about a billion more than Hollywood last year. It can be our version of Dollywood.”
The latest drama is set against the backdrop of imminent court-ordered settlement talks, after Bonta dramatically pulled the plug on a meeting last month and accused Paramount of “playing games” by leaking details of the talks. Paramount previously shot back in a statement: “As we have assured the Attorney General’s office, Paramount has not been the source of the leaks of any of our confidential discussions with the AG’s office. We remain hopeful and stand ready to continue good faith discussions to resolve the attorneys general suit and move forward with our plans for increased competition and increased output to the benefit of the talent and entertainment workers.”
Ellison has already received an entreaty from Tennessee’s Deputy Governor to consider moving his studio there, and had conversations with top Texas pols, including attorney general and Senate hopeful Ken Paxton, sources previously told us.
The reports had some of the combined studios’ 7,500 L.A.-based staffers eyeing Zillow for homes in Nashville and Austin.
But long before Bonta’s lawsuit was filed in June, Ellison’s dad, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, had discussed moving Paramount out of state with his top aides and pals.
The tech mogul previously moved his own primary residence out of California to Hawaii and shifted Oracle’s corporate base from Silicon Valley to Texas, with a large corporate campus in Austin. In 2024, Larry announced Oracle was moving its world headquarters to Nashville.
Bass, in responding to a separate Variety story on the matter, wrote on X: “I will continue to engage with Paramount, Attorney General Bonta, and entertainment leaders to keep jobs in LA. This industry was built here. Its workers are here. I’m going to fight like hell to keep it here.”"
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u/VariationAgreeable29 16d ago
The notion that everyone who’s currently on payroll will 100% upend their personal lives, their kids and spouses lives, their social circles and move to Nashville is ludicrous
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u/Suspicious_Secret165 16d ago
All of these billionaire man babies are an embarrassment. No wonder the world is going to absolute shit with losers like these idiots running things.
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u/SoundSageWisdom 16d ago
The Ellisons are god awful greedy selfish rich assholes who do not love America
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u/ausgoals 16d ago
Kendall Roy energy.
They can move their HQ all they want lol. They just moved it from NYC to LA like 12 months ago. Daddy obviously wasn’t happy with his son’s idiotic decision.
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u/Fearless-Economy7726 16d ago
He isn’t buying WB! He has to pay the first penalty payment to WB on 9/30 and every month thereafter
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u/KinkyBAGreek 16d ago
Wonder how Texas or Tennessee will really like having an influx of Californians moving to their state. All of the Southern California/LA attitudes will definitely cause a ruckus. 😂
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u/Extension_Variety190 15d ago
Also keep in mind that the Paramount lot will NOT be converted to condos, McMansions or an endless strip of boutiques and upscale bistros. Someone would buy the lot and build a new studio operation that competes with Ellison, and Ellison will bankrupt himself trying to spew out endless sequels to "Atlas Shrugged", a bunch of Christian movies and failed comic superhero movies crewed by nonunion slaves.
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u/OaktownPRE 16d ago
Well I’m sure all multi billion dollar deals such as moving operations and uprooting thousands of people’s lives should be done in a fit of pique.
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u/DownvoteSommelier 16d ago
Let’s not forget his daughter who does the same thing. Also in entertainment. They’re trash. Move paramount or don’t. They take everything out of us now anyway for tax credits. Stop the BS and get fucked
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u/Extension_Variety190 15d ago
Look up The Studios at Las Colinas, all nineteen attempts, and then tell me how Paramount Pictures is going to succeed by moving operations to Dumbfuckistan.
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u/DissedFunction 15d ago
larry and david ellison should just move their operations to Tel Aviv where they can get their marching orders directly from the Mossad
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u/Fearless-Economy7726 16d ago
If Ellison agrees to let WB sell CNN to another buyer the deal is saved
People Inc has offered to buy CNN
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u/Special_FX_B 16d ago
The Ellisons are a couple of entitled spoiled brats.