California Democrats in Congress are raising concerns about Paramount Skydance’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery — a $111-billion deal that would dramatically reshape Hollywood by consolidating two historic film studios.
Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) and 33 other members of Congress on Thursday urged California Atty. General Rob Bonta to scrutinize potential antitrust harms that would come from billionaire David Ellison’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The lawmakers’ campaign comes after more than 4,000 entertainment industry actors, producers, directors and crew members, including Jane Fonda, Ben Stiller and J.J. Abrams, signed an open letter urging that the deal be blocked.
“We remain concerned that the proposed merger could harm California workers and consumers,” the 34 lawmakers wrote in their letter to Bonta. “We therefore respectfully urge you to closely analyze the potential effects of this merger and, if you determine that this merger would have anticompetitive effects, use your best judgment to pursue the appropriate course of action.”
The deal would bring together Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, streaming services HBO Max, Discovery+ and Paramount+, more than two dozen cable channels and CBS News and CNN. Paramount has said it expects the deal to lead to at least $6 billion in cost savings, raising fears among the Democrats about widespread job losses.
Bonta has previously told The Times his office is reviewing the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. combination. Bonta separately has brought a lawsuit with a dozen other state attorneys general to block another merger favored by President Trump — a massive consolidation of television stations by Nexstar Media Group. In that case, a federal judge in Sacramento has issued a temporary injunction to freeze the merger until a trial on whether that deal violates century-old antitrust laws.
The Paramount-Warner Bros. transaction is expected to fly through its federal review at the U.S. Justice Department, in part, because billionaire Larry Ellison, who has agreed to backstop the deal, maintains close ties with Trump. Paramount has said it expects the deal to be completed before the end of September.
Trump has agitated for changes at CNN, one of Warner’s most prominent properties. Ellison’s son David, who is chairman and chief executive of Paramount, hosted a party in Washington two weeks ago to honor Trump and other high-level cabinet officials, including some who have expressed a desire to see Ellison in charge of CNN.
“The proposed merger does not occur in a vacuum,” the lawmakers wrote. “Decades of consolidation in this industry have already resulted in reduced output, higher prices, fewer choices, and less innovation, while merged studios face few consequences for breaking their pre-merger promises.”
The letter also called into question the Trump administration’s antitrust enforcement.
“Given that we cannot have confidence that the Trump administration review of the merger will be conducted according to the law, and with the best interests of American workers and consumers in mind, it is even more vital that you conduct a thorough, independent review,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to Bonta.
David Ellison has promised to maintain the two studios’ current release schedule of 15 movies a year each, or a total of 30 films a year.
But the proposed merger would saddle the combined company with $79 billion in debt, stoking fears that Paramount would need to make steep cost cuts to balance such a large debt load. In the last three months, Paramount lined up banks and other institutional investors to provide bridge financing to help pull off the transaction, the company said.
Friedman’s letter noted that, last summer, on-location production in the Los Angeles area has declined by 13% and that 42,000 film industry jobs were lost between 2022 and 2024, a period that included two labor strikes.
The letter was also signed by a group of prominent Democrats that includes Reps. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village), , Lou Correa (D-Anaheim), , Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), and George Whitesides (D-Santa Clarita).
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