States sue to block ‘unlawful’ Paramount, Warner Bros. merger

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is leading the charge to block the $110 billion merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance, two of Hollywood’s major film distributors.

Bonta, accompanied by the attorneys general of 12 states, filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking to block the sale of Warner Bros. to Paramount. Since the announcement of the merger, Bonta has stood steady in his belief that the acquisition attempts to monopolize the industry.

“The unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S.,” Bonta said in a statement. “In this country, no one is above the law. With this lawsuit, California and our sister states are fighting for free and fair markets, not rigged markets. America has no kings in government or our economy.”

Warner Bros. Discovery initially began hearing offers to be bought out in November 2025, with Paramount, Netflix, Comcast and Starz all putting in competing offers to buy out the media giant.

In December 2025, it was announced that Netflix emerged with the top offer, valuing Warner Bros. at $82.7 billion. After Paramount submitted one more rival all-cash offer, and continued to tweak it in the weeks to come, the board of Warner Bros. ultimately decided to take Paramount up on its offer and announced the merger on Feb. 26, 2026.

The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division approved the merger in June, paving the way for the two multi-billion dollar media conglomerates to become one.

Since the proposed merger was announced, Bonta has been consistent in his calls for states to further investigate whether or not the acquisition is anti-competitive in nature.

The lawsuit filed Monday claims the merger violates Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution’s Clayton Act, which states that any mergers that substantially weaken competition are illegal.

The 12 attorneys general allege in their lawsuit that by combining two of the top five major film distributors in the country, the merger would leave the companies in control of nearly one-third of all theatrical releases. The merger will also result in Paramount and Warner Bros., as well as Disney, in control of over 59% of all basic cable in the U.S.

The lawsuit claims the merger will further cause “higher prices, lower quality and less content for film.” 

There are also concerns that the deal will result in higher costs for theatres, who will likely be required to pay the remaining distributors that are not part of this merger a larger share of their revenue, which will likely trickle down to higher costs for movie-goers as well.

“If this merger goes through, Arizonans could face higher prices to see new movies and to access basic cable channels,” said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who is involved in the lawsuit. “Consolidation in industry after industry will only lead us in one direction: higher prices and degraded quality and service for Arizonans. We cannot let that happen.”

Notably, Paramount CEO David Ellison and his family are close Trump allies and have often aligned their business interests with those of the president. 

Beyond television and movie rights, the sale of Warner Bros., the parent company of CNN, also means the Ellison family will have control over some of the biggest news outlets in the country, since Paramount already owns CBS. Advocates warn this move is more political than anything else.

“President Trump and his cronies want to rush this anti-competitive deal through because David Ellison has demonstrated time and again that he will leverage his control of his media empire to silence Trump’s critics and amplify MAGA propaganda,” said Jessica Gonzalez, Co-CEO of Free Press, a nonpartisan media watchdog. 

“That’s corruption, plain and simple,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “Any merger of this scale would diminish creativity and diversity in entertainment, weaken journalists’ ability to hold those in power accountable and further endanger our democracy.”

On Sunday, President Trump lashed out at Jake Tapper after questions about the U.S. conflict with Iran. When Tapper asked the president for a future interview, he replied, “Sure. We’re trying to have CNN go on a normal path. And we’ll do that.” 

It is unclear what the president meant by saying that the news network should go on a “normal path,” but there is speculation that, with the Paramount Warner Bros. merger, he will have greater input into CNN's content and coverage. 

The attorneys general are requesting that Paramount and Warner Bros. not finalize the merger until the lawsuit plays out and if not, the coalition will file a temporary restraining order, according to Bonta.