Paramount’s attempted $110 billion takeover of TNT Sports parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is devolving into a fight between blue states and red ones.
Iowa attorney general Brenna Bird said she intends to sue California, leading a 12-state antitrust lawsuit against Paramount, the parent company of CBS Sports, and WBD, and plans to take the matter directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“California is once again trying to be the country’s regulator,” Bird wrote in an op-ed in The Daily Wire. “And once again California is defying common sense to raise costs around the country. That makes this a dispute between states, and the Constitution says those can only be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court. … Just like California should keep its hands off America’s bacon, California needs to understand that it doesn’t get to decide what Americans can choose to watch or stream.”
Last month, California attorney general Rob Bonta led the initial antitrust suit against Paramount and WBD, involving a dozen blue-leaning states. In six weeks, that action has already had significant impact, including an agreement to delay closing of the merger until a scheduled trial in March 2027.
Bonta has also begun negotiations with Paramount on a potential settlement that, despite some recent finger-pointing between the two sides, could lead to Paramount shedding some of the WBD assets.
