The deciding factor in California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s decision to settle with Paramount and allow its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery with minor concessions was the political pressure placed on him by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the likely next governor, Xavier Beccera, The Post has learned.
That pressure built up for weeks as Paramount CEO David Ellison and his troops made it clear to all involved that the company was dead serious about leaving LA for Nashville, Tenn., or Austin, Tex. The exec made that very clear to Bonta in a one-on-one meeting late last week, according to people familiar with the matter.
Ellison and Paramount’s chief legal officer Makan Delrahim had “tricks up their sleeve” and used every one of them in recent weeks, as The Post reported.
They lobbied Dem centrists over possible job losses; demanded that Bonta and the 11 state AGs who joined his case post a $1.88 billion bond supported by the White House; got GOP state AGs to ask the Supreme Court to block the lawsuit; and then got an assist from SCOTUS, which said the prosecutors had to answer the complaint. Ellison also made it clear that even with minor concessions, he would be gracious and let Bonta take the win whenever a deal was announced.
But the political press was key. It caused a political rift within the state’s Democratic Party apparatus. The more business-friendly moderates were increasingly agitated that Ellison would leave (he was seen scoping out office space in the Nashville area) and take some 50,000 jobs with him – and close the famed Paramount lot, an iconic symbol of Hollywood.
“All these people – Newsom, Bass and Becerra – are running for office now and in the future; Newsom wants to be president. Were they going to risk their political career over a lawsuit that has little antitrust merit?” said one person familiar with the negotiations. “No way.”
Still, the deal was not done until Sunday night. People inside planet Paramount had grown increasingly pessimistic as late in the game as Sunday afternoon. While they were making progress with Bonta – he agreed to drop significant structural reforms in exchange for employment guarantees and, as I first reported, agreement to shoot movies in California – other state AGs were starting to balk.
The Connecticut AG William Tong and New York AG Tish James, both progressives, were demanding more concessions, including spinning off some cable channels. They were being pushed by their political donor base like unions and lefty groups that despise the deal because of David Ellison’s father Larry Ellison, the Oracle co-founder and President Trump ally who provided financial backing for the merger.
The Ellisons are already upsetting the progressive media outlet they already own, CBS, demanding less left-wing agitprop from shows like “60 Minutes” under the leadership of news chief Bari Weiss. They will likely do the same with WBD cable news channel CNN, which progressive find anathema.
But the politics of the eventual deal cut both ways. Actor Mark Ruffalo was a constant opponent of any deal and demanded the case go to trial. He made a fatal mistake, people close to the matter say, attacking the Ellisons because of Oracle’s contracts with Israel, absurdly suggesting the merger would promote genocide.
Paramount publicly attacked Ruffalo’s comment, and so did most major Jewish organizations. Many in Hollywood, including its large pro-Israel contingent, began alerting Newsom, Bass and Becerra that Ruffalo — who Bonta said inspired his legal action – had stepped way over the line and that the pols needed to push for the deal to be approved.
Many Hollywood moguls also made their case known to Bass, Newsom and Becerra, worried that if Bonta could block the merger – of two middling companies that NEED to merge to survive, a deal approved by the whole world – then it might be time to move to another state.
“Bonta became very reasonable this weekend. He knew for a fact that Larry picked up and left the state,” said one person familiar with the matter, pointing to Oracle’s move to Austin.
“David was serious about doing the same. But I can’t tell you how much that Ruffalo statement hurt Bonta’s effort. It made it seem like the guy inspiring his case hurt him with his fellow Dems after he made that comment.”
A private meeting with all 12 state AGs went down late Sunday afternoon. Bonta was pushing hard for the deal and eventually James and Tong went along with something that was devoid of any structural changes, and opted for employment guarantees and some minor guidelines to protect the independence of CNN and CBS. Ellison and his people were growing weary when they hadn’t heard any news for some time, thinking they would be back to pressing their case and telling anyone who would listen that a key Oct. 1 deadline was approaching and Nashille was calling.
The Ellisons “were scared because it really seemed like it was touch and go on Sunday,” said a person familiar with the talks.
That’s when the word came that it was good – the AG had agreed in principle to a settlement and it would be officially signed Monday.