Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) issued a warning Saturday that it would be a “massive mistake to cave” on 12 states’ lawsuit against Paramount Skydance’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Warren’s statement comes amid reports that California Attorney General Rob Bonta is in advanced talks on a potential settlement with the company, which would remove the only remaining regulatory hurdle impending the transaction.
“As Trump tries to ban CNN from the White House, it would be a massive mistake to cave on the Paramount merger,” Warren wrote in a statement posted to social media. “The last thing we need is another Trump-controlled media conglomerate abusing its power to stomp out competition. This is a dangerous merger.”
The senator’s post cites Trump’s recent ban of certain outlets from the White House press pool, which includes the WBD-owned CNN as well as MS NOW and Politico. Reporters for all three outlets were turned away from the White House on Saturday.
Block the Merger, a campaign backed by the Future Film Coalition, also released a statement against the settlement talks Saturday: “The rumored ‘deal’ to usher the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger forward is an insult to everyone who has stood up against this harmful transaction and to the hundreds of thousands of workers, journalists and consumers who will be hurt if it goes forward. Let’s be very clear: an agreement based on unenforceable concessions is a win only for David Ellison. It is an L for everyone else. Thousands of industry leaders took a risk when they spoke out publicly about the harm the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger would cause. More than 75,000 people have now joined them to tell the state AGs to stand strong. So have national leaders like Sen. Elizabeth Warren. We know a bad deal when we see one. AG Bonta and his fellow state AGs should reject this deal, stand strong and fully block the merger with no concessions.”
Paramount and California Attorney General Rob Bonta were reported Friday to be in advanced talks about a potential settlement to the latter’s lawsuit seeking to block the company’s pending $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Bonta, who is suing alongside 11 other state AGs, previously said he’s open to reaching an out of court settlement, but has called on the David Ellison-led media giant to offer structural remedies, such as divestments, rather than behavioral remedies, like its pledge to release 30 films in theaters per year.
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