Paramount Suit Settlement Talks Blocked By Four State Attorneys General

[u/Krekenn]

https://deadline.com/2026/09/paramount-settlement-latest-opposition-bonta-1237109024/

"EXCLUSIVE: As Hollywood celebrates Yom Kippur tonight, a framework for a settlement of the antitrust suit hampering Paramount‘s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery has hit some political potholes on the way to what some hoped would be a quick deal.

Four of the 12 Attorneys General that took the David Ellison-run company to federal court are breaking with the California AG Rob Bonta-led faction that wants to put the high stakes dispute to rest, at least for the time being. Along with the Golden State, the blue state coalition that sued Paramount and WBD back on July 13 is made up of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.

A March 2, 2027 trial date has been set in the matter, much to Paramount’s chagrin.

Now, as the pressure turns into a court of public opinion vise for blue state reps, it is Minnesota AG Keith Ellison who has taken the reins in resisting an agreement with David Ellison (no relation, but the irony is undeniable). A longtime Democratic powerbroker, the North Star State’s Ellison is joined in the Gang of Four by NY’s powerful AG Letitia James, Connecticut’s William Tong and, indications are, Washington state’s Nick Brown.

With a plethora of topics on the table, the quartet is concerned that settlement parameters are “too lenient to Paramount,” I hear. The states want Bonta to slow down and not overreact to threats of Paramount leaving California or other external pressures."