12 States Are Suing to Prevent Paramount's Acquisition of Warner Bros.

The lawsuit alleges a "media behemoth" would be created.

Paramount's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. was just approved by the Department of Justice, but don't let that stop any ambitious state attorneys general from trying to put a stop to it. Led by California's AG Rob Bonta along with 11 other states, this consortium is suing to stop the acquisition from happening. The federal antitrust lawsuit alleges that were the deal to happen, the resultant "media behemoth" would have too much control over the whole of Hollywood, including theatrical releases, cable TV, and more. The lawsuit also mentions rising costs for consumers and less choices.

Notably the array of states are predominantly Democrat-led, so-called blue states, with the outliers being Nevada and Arizona. Still, it's rather fascinating that Bonta is given a prominent push via a guest article in Variety to espouse his displeasure with the deal. Further interesting is that there was no such impassioned essays or frantic lawsuits when Disney bought up Fox, which by that time already had gobbled up Marvel and Lucasfilm on top being in charge of ABC and ESPN; so much for "media behemoths." What, then, makes the prospects of a Paramount/WB merger so objectionable? It all comes down to politics.

Davis Ellison, the owner of Paramount with considerable financial backing from his father, Larry, is, along with his dad, widely considered by the activist left to be Trump supporters. If they get their hands on WB, that's too much power for the supposedly right-leaning duo to wield. Although, in fairness, while the Ellisons have aligned themselves with the President, it hasn't been reflected much in Paramount's programming; just look at the sorry state of Star Trek, a victim of extreme progressive messaging. Still, even positioning themselves as neutral parties, as Bari Weiss has been doing with CBS news and 60 Minutes for Paramount, is a threat to the overarching stranglehold that the left has on media.

With the midterms barreling towards the U.S., flagging support for the Democrats, and future endeavors to consider, it's little wonder that Bonta and the others are making this move. Paramount replied swiftly to the litigation, stating the following:

Indeed, it's ironic seeing Bonta take the lead on this considering the incredibly anti-business, bureaucratic nightmare that his state has made of the movie industry. Hoops, red tape, and out of control costs and fees make filming in the Golden State, particularly Los Angeles and Hollywood, such a mess that most productions actively avoid it. Another notable aspect of this lawsuit is that CNN is not specifically mentioned, but is presumably very much at the forefront of these AGs' objections given the aforementioned Weiss would be assuming editorial control over the network. CNN is a valuable asset that the left wouldn't want to lose sway over; surely it's factoring into the decision to trigger this lawsuit, whether it's being stated out loud or not.

Whether or not this litigation will succeed is anyone's guess, but it's certainly going to delay Paramount's acquisition, if nothing else. We'll keep you all posted.

Source: The Wall Street Journal