California Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Tuesday there are no settlement talks scheduled with Paramount Skydance to resolve the antitrust suit seeking to block the studio’s proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery.
Bonta said he canceled a scheduled Monday meeting after details of confidential settlement discussions leaked to the press, which he said was “unacceptable.”
“If they are willing to clean things up …. and engage in a way that is sincere and in good faith, we will be where we always will be with any party in any case that we’re involved in, which is happy to meet,” Bonta said at a press conference on public safety issues.
Paramount has pushed for a settlement in the case, which is the last hurdle to the deal along with a parallel lawsuit by the Writer’s Guild of America. The company faces a mountain of fees and costs to keep the deal together if Bonta’s lawsuit continues to a trial scheduled for March. Bonta and other states have so far won key rulings, giving them leverage if settlement talks continue.
The studio said it was not the source of the leaks.
A Paramount spokesperson on Monday said the company shares “Bonta’s concerns about the public discussions and misreporting that has surrounded this deal.”
Bonta reiterated his concerns that the merger of two major Hollywood studios would result in higher prices for consumers, less choice and lower quality films and television series. He also cited a report from Los Angeles county that predicted 4,500 film and television jobs would be lost within three years of the companies combining their operations, exacting an economic toll on the community.
The attorneys general are seeking remedies that address their concerns about the deal’s potential impact on widely released films and basic cable TV service.
“They know exactly what I’m asking for, and it’s incumbent upon them if they wish to make proposals that align with what I’m looking for and what the other attorneys general are looking for,” Bonta said. “They haven’t.”
Bonta said promises to release a combined 30 films a year from Paramount and Warner Bros fall short of the remedies he and other attorneys general are seeking.