{"id":752063,"date":"2026-07-09T06:53:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T06:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/752063\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T06:53:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T06:53:13","slug":"state-ags-finalizing-antitrust-lawsuit-over-paramount-warner-bros-discovery-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/752063\/","title":{"rendered":"State AGs finalizing antitrust lawsuit over Paramount\u2013Warner Bros. Discovery merger"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Lawyers for several states are finalizing an antitrust lawsuit challenging Paramount\u2019s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, including CNN, according to people involved in the legal process.\n <\/p>\n

\n The multistate suit will likely be filed next week, the sources told CNN, though the filing date is subject to change.\n <\/p>\n

\n If the suit is filed, it could disrupt Paramount\u2019s plan to take control of Warner later this summer. The company has been seeking to complete the deal in the coming weeks.\n <\/p>\n

\n The suit would also represent another instance of state attorneys general intervening in a merger that has already been approved by the federal government.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Justice Department cleared Paramount\u2019s acquisition of WBD last month amid criticism of the Trump administration\u2019s close ties with the company. Federal clearance doesn\u2019t bar state attorneys from bringing their own antitrust claims.\n <\/p>\n

\n Critics who have urged state attorneys general to sue have argued that the deal would harm competition across the entertainment and news industries, a charge Paramount has denied.\n <\/p>\n

\n State-level officials have been probing Paramount\u2019s lobbying of the Trump administration, among other matters, the sources said.\n <\/p>\n

\n In response to questions about a likely lawsuit by a coalition of states, a Paramount spokesperson said, \u201cWe continue to engage constructively with regulators, including State Attorneys General, and are prepared to address any legitimate antitrust issues. We are confident this transaction raises no such concerns.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Paramount is also facing regulatory hurdles in the United Kingdom, where culture minister Lisa Nandy recently said<\/a> she was \u201cminded to intervene\u201d in the deal.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n In the United States, a coalition of state attorneys general has been investigating the deal for months, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta has repeatedly expressed concerns about the proposed combination.\n <\/p>\n

\n Asked for comment on Wednesday afternoon, Bonta\u2019s office said, \u201cThe Paramount acquisition of Warner Bros. remains an active investigation, and we do not have any update to share at this time.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Reuters reported the timing of the potential lawsuit earlier on Wednesday.\n <\/p>\n

\n Most of the legal machinations between Paramount and the states have occurred out of public view, but the office of Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield was in court on Wednesday to seek enforcement of a subpoena related to the state\u2019s review of the deal.\n <\/p>\n

\n The hearing was delayed until Monday. Paramount representatives informed the court that it would not complete the merger before July 22.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Oregon AG\u2019s office wants the court to order a 60-day pause before Paramount can take control of WBD. But any such order might be superseded by the multi-state lawsuit.\n <\/p>\n

\"Attorney<\/p>\n

\n A coalition of state attorneys general succeeded in stalling Nexstar\u2019s takeover of a rival TV station, Tegna, earlier this year. A judge froze that deal ahead of an expected trial, and Nexstar is now appealing.\n <\/p>\n

\n Paramount\u2019s statement on Wednesday noted that regulators in numerous countries have already blessed the WBD deal.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAntitrust authorities around the world have carefully reviewed this transaction, clearing it or concluding that it does not violate any competition laws,\u201d a spokesperson told CNN. \u201cThat regulatory record underscores what the facts, the law and the economics make clear: this transaction will create a stronger challenger to dominant global streaming and technology platforms, expand consumer choice, increase investment in premium content and theatrical distribution, and create more opportunities for creators and workers.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe are confident the facts and the law support this transaction, and we will continue to defend it vigorously,\u201d Paramount added.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lawyers for several states are finalizing an antitrust lawsuit challenging Paramount\u2019s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, including…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":752064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28],"class_list":["post-752063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}