Rob Bonta ‘Vehemently and Respectfully Disagrees’ That He ‘Caved’ on Warner Bros.-Paramount Suit

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is defending against claims that he and 11 other state AGs caved on their settlement resolving antitrust litigation against the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. “I appreciate and understand the diversity of perspectives on this proposed settlement. I will certainly vehemently, respectfully, disagree with with those positions,” Bonta told Sharon Waxman during TheWrap’s 2026 TheGrill conference on Wednesday. “We set out to solve an antitrust problem that we saw in two markets that were impacted by this proposed merger in the distribution of wide-release films market, including blockbuster films, and the basic cable channel licensing market. For a long time there was no proposed solution and then Paramount came to the table in good faith to act sincerely to settle the antitrust case.” He also pushed back on claims that California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the Democratic nominee in California’s gubernatorial race Xavier Becerra or Paramount CEO David Ellison’s threat to move the Hollywood studio out of the state pressured him into settling. The latter could’ve resulted in up to $21.2 billion loss in annual economic output, per Los Angeles’ Economic Development Corporation. “My job is to focus on the antitrust concerns and getting a resolution. So what a company may or may not do, what a governor or a next governor says or doesn’t say, has no influence,” he added. “I’m the attorney general of California. I need to make a decision about the case that I brought with my 11 other attorneys general, and if we get a resolution to that case, as we did when Paramount finally came to the table in good faith, then we take it and we resolve the case.” He added that it was ultimately a “unanimous” decision for the states to settle the case, though Connecticut AG William Tong unsuccessfully pushed for Paramount-WBD to divest CNN and CBS News during negotiations. Under the terms of the settlement, Paramount-WBD must release at least 30 films a year in theaters for two years and 32 per year for the following three years. At least four films per year must be independent films and at least 20% must be blockbusters. If Congress passes a federal film tax credit, Paramount agreed that 20% of all film production must be in the U.S. for the first two years of the merger and 30% of the next three. Bonta said that requirement is the “opposite” of the Disney-Fox merger, noting that they made about 28 films per year before the combination, which would later drop to 14 films per year. The combined company is also required to invest a minimum of $1.5 billion over five years in domestic TV and film production and negotiate the distribution agreements for each company’s suite of cable networks separately. Additionally, it must set up an independent editorial board to oversee the CNN and CBS News operations, which Bonta said would help “ensure journalistic integrity and fact-based, non-biased, objective reporting.” “I’m an American. I care about our information ecosystem. I think it’s broken. I think there’s too much misinformation. There’s too much disinformation,” he said when asked about the future of CNN, news and free speech. “I think we can only move forward as a society, as a country, if we share the same facts, so that we can base our solutions on those facts. But we don’t share the same facts, so of course I’m concerned about it, which is the reason that among the AGs we had a rightful concern in the settlement process, which is more flexible and more provides more opportunity for creativity.” Other settlement terms include continuing to operate Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio lots for five years, honoring collective bargaining agreements with Hollywood’s unions and making community investments, including a $5 million-per-year contribution to an independent film fund and $9.5 million annually for film and TV career training and development programs to benefit qualified educational institutions and community arts organizations. Failure to comply with the various commitments in the settlement range from a $30 million penalty per film that misses the theatrical goal to forced divestitures of the company’s 49% Miramax stake within a 12-month period as well as BET, Comedy Central, VH1, Smithsonian, Destination America and Science Channel within a 120-day period. Despite Bonta’s comments, the proposed settlement has raised concerns among the Block the Merger coalition, which believes it is “weak and unenforceable.” Sen. Corey Booker has also asked the court to subject the proposed consent decree to an “independent public-interest review” before entering it. Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin has held off on approving it while the parties address her outstanding questions and Booker’s concerns. On Monday, Paramount and the AGs said that the settlement is a “reasonable compromise” that was negotiated at “arm’s length.” They added that the enforcement provisions in the deal “have teeth” and urged Martinez-Olguin to enter the consent decree. If the settlement isn’t approved by Thursday, Paramount will be on the hook to start accruing a ticking fee of $7 million per day to be paid to WBD shareholders at closing. Prior to Martinez-Olguin’s hearing, Ellison said that the deal would close within two weeks of reaching the settlement. Paramount’s Class B stock listing is expected to move from the Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 5 and begin trading on the NYSE on Oct. 6. Paramount would distribute warrants to purchase those shares on Oct. 13. However, the merger is “subject to further closing conditions, and the ultimate timing for the closing of the WBD merger, if any, is not yet certain,” the company noted in a Friday SEC filing. As a result, Paramount may choose to cancel or postpone the move.