Something you’ve probably picked up on in the last decade is that Donald Trump is not a fan of the news media, or, as he prefers to call it, “THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE,” and that of the many outlets he despises, CNN has long been near the very top. Luckily for the president, though, his billionaire friends Larry and David Ellison have struck a deal to acquire the network when Paramount buys Warner Bros. Discovery for $111 billion. Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ellison the Elder told Trump Paramount would overhaul CNN upon the deal going through, and in an interview with Jake Tapper last weekend, Trump informed the anchor that “we’re trying to have CNN go on a normal path.” Or at least that was the plan until a bunch of meddling states sued to block the merger.
On Monday, 12 states led by California filed a lawsuit to stop Paramount from acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, claiming that the combined company will harm movie theaters and moviegoers by dismantling the competitive market for film distribution — especially blockbusters — and that the deal would also give the newly formed behemoth an anticompetitive edge for the distribution of basic-cable channels. “The merger will end this competition permanently,” the states alleged. “The likely result is higher prices, lower quality and less content for film.”
