California AG Bonta Announces Settlement of Paramount Antitrust Case

California Attorney General Rob Bonta confirmed on Monday that a settlement has been reached with Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, concluding an antitrust lawsuit brought by a coalition of 12 Democratic state attorneys general. Bonta said negotiations had progressed significantly over the past week and that final components were only locked in at the end of the process.

"You get to a place in some of these negotiations where you get to 90% maybe 95%, maybe even 99%, and then the last part is often the hardest part," Bonta said, noting that unexpected issues can delay final agreement.

He added that the parties had made “a lot of progress” recently, though he did not provide specific percentages. The settlement follows months of legal maneuvering that had been expected to reach the Supreme Court before negotiations resumed and concluded over the weekend.

Governor Gavin Newsom was mentioned in Bonta’s remarks, but the AG did not detail the governor’s involvement in the final negotiations. Reports indicated that Newsom had urged a settlement rather than a trial, a stance he publicly expressed in August.

The agreement is expected to be finalized within the next two weeks, according to a source familiar with the matter.