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California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta abruptly pulled out of a planned mediation session Monday to seek a resolution to the antitrust lawsuit that has stalled Paramount Skydance’s blockbuster $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Bonta, in a statement, accused Paramount of leaking and misrepresenting information the two sides had discussed during a preliminary session Friday. He said Paramount was “playing games.”
Representatives of Bonta and Paramount Skydance came together late last week to set ground rules for Monday’s meeting, which was to involve Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison.
One of the rules had been confidentiality of the mediation process. But, over the weekend, a stream of news stories contained information about the proposed summit.
Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery could lead to massive job losses, battering an already fragile L.A. entertainment economy.
Late Sunday, the Wall Street Journal published deal points that it said Bonta was preparing to offer Paramount in exchange for dropping his lawsuit. Terms included asking the company to sell some basic cable TV channels because the merged entity would control more than 50, including CNN, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, HGTV and MTV.
Bonta also was going to call for keeping the Warner Bros. film studio separate from Paramount Pictures — which would be a non-starter for Ellison who wants to create a Hollywood super-studio.
“Not only did Paramount leak the alleged substance of the settlement discussions, but they misrepresented these discussions, demonstrating a lack of good faith,” Bonta said on Monday, noting: “I have pulled down this meeting.”
The letter was signed by nearly 1,000 artists and movie creators, including Ben Stiller, Bryan Cranston, Noah Wyle, Joaquin Phoenix, Kristen Stewart and Jane Fonda.
“As I have said before, generally for all cases, I prefer to resolve disputes in the boardroom, not the courtroom,” Bonta said. “As I’ve also said, if the opposing party in litigation wants to meet in good faith to make a sincere effort to resolve the case, we’ll meet.”
Bonta didn’t entirely close the door on mediation, which had been ordered by the judge in the antitrust case.
“As soon as Paramount stops playing games and engages sincerely, my office is happy to meet again,” he said.
Amid caustic political charges, Paramount executives and lawyers representing 12 states are set this meet this week to see if a truce is possible.
