Bonta’s settlement clears Paramount–Warner merger; critics call concessions hollow
California’s attorney general dropped his challenge to the Ellison family’s Paramount-Warner Bros. deal, and commentators say the promised safeguards are toothless.
What to know
- California AG Rob Bonta settled with Paramount and other states, removing a key legal obstacle to the Ellison family's merger of Warner Bros. with Paramount/Skydance.
- Critics including Matt Stoller and Cory Doctorow say the settlement's headline concessions — on film output, the Burbank lot, theater relations, and a CNN/MSNBC editorial board — are weak, unenforceable, or controlled by the Ellisons themselves.
- Former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya found the company's 'commitment' to make films is actually lower than its 2025 output of 18 movies.
- The settlement removes leverage Bonta's office had while the merger was stalled by a Hollywood-union-backed injunction and a $7m/day penalty on the companies.
“Bonta's office will never have as much leverage over Warnermount as it has today”
Matt Stoller, Antitrust writer · Pluralistic (quoting Stoller) ↗ · Sep 20
Rob Bonta California Attorney GeneralDavid Ellison Head of Skydance/Paramount
Matt Stoller Antitrust writerAlvaro Bedoya Former FTC Commissioner
Cory Doctorow Author, Pluralistic newsletter
How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts
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German commenter warns of media consolidation risk
A Mastodon user reacted to the merger approval, warning that combining Paramount and Warner into one entertainment-and-news conglomerate is a troubling development, even as some major U.S. outlets appear to be resisting pressure not to cover Trump.
“Gerade wurde erlaubt, dass Paramount Warner schlucken darf. Damit würde ein Koloss geschaffen, der durch Unterhaltungs- und Nachrichten…”
— PC_Fluesterer -
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The Paramount purchase of Warner will mean one company owns a lot of UK TV channels, including all the 5 stations, the Quests, DMAX, Really, TNT, and lots more. I wonder if the Competition or Communications regulators are looking at it. @ pluralistic https:// mamot.fr/@pluralistic/11731376 7010334548 # ukpol # media
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"Freie" Presse und "freie" Medien in den USA. So langsam dreht König Donald durch. Sein Versuch, unbequeme Presse-Organe auszuschließen, scheint glücklicherweise nach hinten los zu gehen. Große "erlaubte" Presseorgane wollen jetzt ja umgekehrt nicht mehr über Trump berichten. Mal gespannt, wie das ausgeht. Aber bei den Unterhaltungsmedien sieht es…
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Pluralistic: Bonta sold us out to Trump’s oligarchs https:// pluralistic.net/2026/09/22/hap py-chudmas/#baloney-in-our-slacks
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Doctorow condemns Bonta's settlement as a surrender
Cory Doctorow published "Bonta sold us out to Trump's oligarchs" on Pluralistic, calling the settlement a capitulation that hands Warners, Paramount and TikTok to the Ellisons and betrays the Hollywood unions who had secured the injunction stalling the merger.
“California Attorney General Rob Bonta just surrendered to the Trump-aligned Ellison billionaires who want to take over and destroy Warners, merging it with the chudded out husk they've made of Paramount…”
— Cory Doctorow -
first by Mastodon, 2d ago
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first by Pluralistic, 5d ago
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You can follow these posts as a daily blog at pluralistic.net: no ads, trackers, or data-collection! Here's today's edition: https:// pluralistic.net/2026/09/22/hap py-chudmas/ -- If you prefer a newsletter, subscribe to the plura-list, which is ad-/tracker-free, and is utterly unadorned save a single daily emoji. Today's is "🏕️". Suggestions…
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Today's threads (a thread) Inside: Bonta sold us out to Trump's oligarchs; and more! Archived at: https:// pluralistic.net/2026/09/22/hap py-chudmas/ # Pluralistic 1/
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Bedoya finds film commitment is lower than current output
Former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya examined the settlement's wording and found the company is only committing to distributing 30 films and making 15 (co-produceable with other studios) versus the 18 films it made last year.
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Matt Stoller calls the settlement's terms meaningless — Antitrust writer Matt Stoller published "Happy Oligarch Day!", arguing every commitment in the settlement only matters if Bonta's office enforces it, and that the office will never again have as much leverage as it does now while Warnermount pays a $7m/day "ticking fee".
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Bonta's office touts list of concessions from the Ellisons — In announcing the settlement, Bonta's office listed commitments it said it extracted from the Ellisons before approving the merger, including on film output, the Warner lot, theater relations, and CNN/MSNBC oversight.
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background
Bonta settles with Paramount, clearing merger hurdle — California's attorney general reached a settlement with Paramount and other states, removing a major legal obstacle to the Ellison family's merger of Warner Bros. with Paramount/Skydance, as first reported by Reuters.