California Attorney General Rob Bonta is contesting claims made by Paramount Skydance regarding his multistate antitrust lawsuit against the merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. In an op-ed published in Deadline, Bonta addresses a guest essay by Paramount CEO David Ellison, who argues that the lawsuit focuses on the future ownership of CNN rather than market share. Bonta asserts that the lawsuit aims to enforce federal antitrust law and accuses the studios of attempting to divert attention from the case's facts through a public relations campaign.
Bonta stated, "They would have you believe that this is purely politics. It’s not. If it was, we would have been thrown out of court the day we filed." He noted that a judge issued a temporary restraining order to block the merger, suggesting the case has merit. The trial is set for March 2027 after Paramount agreed to delay the merger until June 1, 2027. The coalition of 12 states, led by California, claims the merger violates the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 by significantly reducing competition in film distribution and television licensing. Bonta filed the lawsuit after the Justice Department approved the merger in June. He believes that Paramount and Warner Bros. will ultimately lose in court and are attempting to influence public opinion regarding the case.