AP News53%
12 states challenge Paramount’s takeover of Warner, say merger would ‘extinguish competition’ 52%
By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS80%
7/13/2026, 4:30:05 PM
Keywords: Paramount, Warner Bros Discovery, Merger, Antitrust, Competition, Hollywood, California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Washington, Rob Bonta, Kris Mayes, Letitia James, David Ellison, Donald Trump, Justice Department, Netflix, Hbo Max, Cnn
BS Summary: This article contains 21 faulty reasoning types, including Recency Bias, Ad Hominem, and Self-Serving Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 22.4% saturation with 125 hits. Analysis detected 918 faulty-reasoning hits from 557 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 51.5% and a BS Rank of 52% (10,067 of 20,882 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 51.80% of the article peer group.
Twelve states sued to block Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros.
Discovery on Monday, arguing that the $81 billion merger would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and lead to fewer choices for consumers across the U.S.
“Audiences on every sofa and in every movie (theater) seat would feel the impact of this unlawful merger,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the case, said in a news conference from Los Angeles.
He said the deal would result in higher prices, fewer movies and TV shows and lower quality of content overall.
A Paramount-Warner combo would bring together two of Hollywood’s last five legacy studios.
It would also mean putting Warner’s HBO Max, libraries filled with fan favorites like “Harry Potter” and even CNN under the same roof of Paramount-owned CBS and the Paramount+ streaming service.
In Monday’s complaint, the states said such a tie-up would also “inflict substantial harm” on movie theatres and basic cable distributors.
Bonta’s office said the states are asking Warner and Paramount to not close this merger “until after the judicial process concludes.”
And if the companies do not agree, the coalition would then file a temporary restraining order.
Paramount said Monday’s lawsuit “distorts settled antitrust law” and maintained that its merger would instead create a “stronger competitor against dominant streaming and technology platforms who have harmed the market for theatrical exhibition and jobs in the entertainment industry.”
The company added that the states’ case would “shield” larger streaming rivals like Netflix from meaningful competition.
Throughout Paramount’s quest for Warner, questions of political influence have also piled up — with criticism falling largely along party lines in Washington.
No Republicans signed on to the states’ case on Monday.
Democrats have long expressed skepticism about whether regulators working under Trump would scrutinize the deal as heavily.
Several attorneys general joining Monday’s lawsuit took aim at the Justice Department’s decision to not challenge the deal — pointing in particular to the president’s close relationship with the billionaire family of Paramount CEO David Ellison.
“Something happened and perhaps that something had to do with a mega-billionaire named Ellison,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told reporters on Monday.
“We are seeing more and more instances where the Trump DOJ is just rolling over for corporate consolidation,” she added.
Last month, DOJ leadership released a lengthy statement in support of the deal — maintaining a Paramount-Warner combo would “increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, with benefits for American consumers and workers.”
The Justice Department had maintained that politics would not play a role in its review.
Trump himself previously made public comments about Warner’s future, despite backpedaling on what he once suggested his personal role would be in approving a merger.
Many eyes are on CNN, a network that has long attracted ire from Trump and his allies.
Paramount’s CBS has already seen significant turmoil and shifts in editorial leadership since coming under Skydance ownership last year — and if Warner merger goes through, the reach of that could grow.
Several Trump administration officials have also been far from shy from sharing their hopes for CNN under Paramount ownership, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth telling reporters in March that “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”
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Mikella Schuettler contributed from Phoenix.
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