{"id":197362,"date":"2026-02-28T01:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T01:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197362\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T01:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T01:31:12","slug":"paramount-wb-merger-faces-probe-by-blue-states-joining-with-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197362\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramount-WB Merger Faces Probe By Blue States Joining With California"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe clock is ticking on the Paramount<\/a> and Warner Bros<\/a> Discovery mega-merger, literally, and things could get sticky and expensive if California\u2019s Attorney General has his way. <\/p>\n

\n\tTweeting the not-so quiet thing out loud today, Rob Bonta<\/a> revealed he is in talks with other state (read Blue State) AGs about concerns they have on the absorption of WBD<\/a> into the corporation owned by Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s \u201cgood friends\u201d David Ellison<\/a> and his Oracle found father Larry Ellison. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m in conversation with my AG colleagues about Paramount\/Warner Bros,\u201d the Golden State\u2019s top lawman replied to Mark Ruffalo<\/a> today. \u201cAs the epicenter of the entertainment industry, California has a special interest in protecting competition,\u201d Bonta added in response to the progressively inclined Marvel star\u2019s response to a previous February 26 posting by the Attorney General.<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark, I hear you.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m in conversation with my AG colleagues about Paramount\/Warner Bros.<\/p>\n

As the epicenter of the entertainment industry, California has a special interest in protecting competition. https:\/\/t.co\/Av74BFnEsi<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) February 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tAs for Ruffalo himself, who has on more than one occasion ruffled a few feathers with his advocacy, red carpet label pins and outspokenness, the Hulk actor suggested to Bonta to put together a posse.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPlease let\u2019s circle up all the State AG\u2019s and talk about how this is going to kill completion in the industry and drive down wages, and product quality for consumers,\u201d Ruffalo posted last night after news of Netflix dropping out <\/a>of the battle for WBD<\/a> and Paramount\u2019s 11th hour $110 billion hostile takeover bid getting the Warner\u2019s board nod. \u201cThere are lots of agents in Hollywood who can tell you how past mergers and consolidations have hurt their clients and business. There is lots of talent that can tell you the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHaving already put the brakes late Thursday on any victory laps by Ellison and that other David, WBD CEO David Zaslav in Paramount\u2019s tentative win for all of WBD over Netflix<\/a> with a stern \u201cnot a done deal,\u201d Bonta is now emerging as the top interrogator of this latest Tinseltown Mother Boxes meld. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe CA AG\u2019s office didn\u2019t get back to Deadline on what the status of those talks with other state AGs were and who was talking to who. However, sources in Sacramento tell me that it is pretty much the usual suspects of New York, Washington, Virginia and Pennsylvania at this point, with more on the go. <\/p>\n

\n\tAny attempt by state AGs to stop or slow down the Paramount and WBD meld would likely fit in to a competition and consolidation attack. Simply put, in the eyes of Blue State Justice Departments and maybe more, one big PARA-WBD would mean less places for filmmakers and producers to sell to and more power in the hands of one entity to set rates, prices and output. Without any irony on either side, that was pretty much the core of the claims MAGA and others made against Netflix when they were still aiming to buy WB. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia Attorney General Rob Bonta at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 6, 2025 (Photo:Getty)<\/p>\n

\n\tAs well as fellow Blue Staters, Bonta is also talking to Dems in DC in terms of strategic coordination. <\/p>\n

\n\tCertainly, that tracks with the fiery words Friday <\/a>of the usually circumspect Sen, Chris Murphy (D-CT) that federal Democrats \u201care going to break up these anti-democratic information conglomerates\u201d once they get the majority in Congress and in 2028 back in the White House. Sen. Murphy\u2019s pointed remarks follow the likes of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) throwing antitrust shade <\/a>on Paramount talking over WBD and the role and influence of the CNN-hating Trump administration on the deal and the outcome.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith MAGA plans to derail \u201cwoke\u201d Netflix <\/a>from scooping up the WB crown jewels a success, Red State AGs are mute now on their insistence of earlier this week <\/a>that federal AG Pam Bondi<\/a> dig deep into possible Sherman Act violations by the streamer. In that context, a February 20 launched monopoly and antitrust probe by the DOJ into Netflix seems moot now. Even before there was a WBD deal for them, Paramount a week ago announced that it had moved past a DOJ antitrust examination and the necessary waiting period. <\/p>\n

\n\tAdditionally, moving things along nicely for PSKY for a deal that Zaslav says will close in a year, a March 4 hearing before the Senate\u2019s antitrust subcommittee, which roasted Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos earlier this month, has been canceled. That move by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) came as Sen. Booker unsuccessfully sought to have David Ellison show up to testify.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe PARA-WBD deal as it stands, has some big baked in payout penalty fees, like the $2.8 billion Paramount already handed Netflix today and the $7 billion the Ellison-owned studio will have to give WBD if the deal fails its regulatory requirements. Also, adding up to millions and millions pretty quickly, there\u2019s a daily \u201cticking fee\u201d of $0.25 per share per quarter that starts taking effect on September 30, 2026 if the deal hasn\u2019t been finalized by then.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, lots of moving pieces, and lots of AGs. <\/p>\n