Paramount Skydance sharply criticized a coalition of 12 Democratic state attorneys general that sued to block the David Ellison-led company’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The lawsuit filed by the state AGs “distorts settled antitrust law and is based on a misrepresentation of competition in the entertainment industry today,” Paramount said Monday, after the suit was filed. The company, formed by Skydance Media’s takeover of Paramount Global in August 2025, said it will “vigorously defend the transaction.”
The company repeated its claims that the $111 billion deal to merge Paramount and Warner Bros. “creates a stronger competitor against dominant streaming and technology platforms who have harmed the market for theatrical exhibition and jobs in the entertainment industry.”
“The lawsuit filed by the state attorneys general, in the most generous light, reflects a fundamentally flawed application of the antitrust laws and is wrong on both the facts and the law,” Paramount’s statement said. “Delaying this transaction will only harm entertainment workers who have already suffered over recent years as technology has disrupted their livelihood and cost California tens of thousands of entertainment jobs.”
