UPDATE 4: With the talks off, the court has locked in the calendar. The next hearing is September 24 on Paramount’s $1.88 billion demand, and the trial runs March 2-19, 2027.
UPDATE 2: Two things have followed the cancellation. Per our insiders, Paramount’s move to Tennessee is already freezing deals and productions, and Iowa’s attorney general says she is taking California to the Supreme Court to undo the 12-state block.
UPDATE 3: Iowa has filed, with Montana alongside it. The two states are asking the Supreme Court to shut down Bonta’s case and rule on the merger itself.
UPDATE: Paramount has responded: “We share AG Bonta’s concerns about the public discussions and misreporting that has surrounded this deal. As we have assured the Attorney General’s office, Paramount has not been the source of the leaks of any of our confidential discussions with the AG’s office. We remain hopeful and stand ready to continue good faith discussions to resolve the Attorneys General suit and move forward with our plans for increased competition and increased output to the benefit of the talent and entertainment workers.”
Previously:
The meeting is off before it ever happened.
Per Deadline, California Attorney General Rob Bonta canceled Monday’s settlement talks with Paramount late Sunday, after details of a preliminary August 21 meeting leaked out. The New York Times first reported the cancellation.
“Not only did Paramount leak the alleged substance of settlement discussions, but they misrepresented these discussions, demonstrating a lack of good faith,” Bonta said in a statement. “As soon as Paramount stops playing games and engages sincerely, my office is happy to meet again.”
Paramount did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment. Worth noting: Deadline says it heard details of the August 21 meeting from “a variety of sources, if you know what I mean,” a wink that the leaking may not have been one-sided.
What Was Reportedly On The Table
Expectations for Monday’s court-ordered meeting were intentionally low, per Deadline, but the asks from the 12 states suing were anything but small.
The AGs reportedly wanted Ellison to sell a swath of WBD’s cable channels, keep Paramount and Warner Bros. running as two separate studios, and be largely cordoned off from running the company he just bought.
That is what Bonta’s “robust structural remedies” look like in practice.
“David’s not going to go along with any of that, and Bonta knows it,” a studio exec told Deadline.
Paramount Called It 17 Hours Early
On Sunday morning, Fox Business’ Charles Gasparino reported Paramount brass weren’t optimistic heading in, with sources telling him they believe the talks are “performative” for Bonta, who needs to build “street-cred” with the progressive wing of California’s Democratic Party by demanding a price no settlement can meet.
His sources also predicted the standoff would open a rift between Bonta and Newsom, along with likely next governor Xavier Becerra, calling the lawsuit “anathema to the business side of Hollywood.”
Seventeen hours later, the meeting was dead.
The clock was not canceled with it. Ellison’s October 1 deadline to settle or start moving Paramount out of California is five weeks out, the $7 million a day ticking fees begin the same day, and the March 2 trial is not moving.
