Writers Guild Denounces Corporate Bullying by Paramount CEO Threatening to Abandon California Over Antitrust Lawsuit
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The Writers Guild of America condemned David Ellison’s attempt to intimidate California officials by threatening to move Paramount out of the state if an antitrust case isn’t dropped, and reaffirmed its own legal fight to block the corporate mega-merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Writers Guild of America issued a forceful statement rejecting the brazen threat from Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison, who warned that the studio might pull out of California unless Attorney General Rob Bonta caves to corporate pressure and abandons an antitrust suit aimed at stopping the exploitative Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
"By threatening to leave the state because it doesn’t want the government to enforce the law, Paramount further proves the danger of its outsized power over the industry and what that will mean for writers and the creative community," the guild said, exposing the greed and disregard for democratic oversight that defines corporate monopolies. The guild emphasized that such conduct is exactly why the merger must be blocked to protect workers and the creative class from further consolidation and exploitation. The WGA has filed its own lawsuit in the Northern District of California, with both East and West branches united to stop the $110 billion corporate takeover on antitrust grounds and defend writers’ rights. The guild deliberately chose to pursue its own case, highlighting that the state’s broader suit fails to address the unique labor concerns of creative workers. Attorney General Bonta, whose case is set for trial in March 2027, called out Ellison’s remarks as a blatant attempt to bully the state into approving an illegal and destructive deal.