Writers Guild Attacks Paramount CEO for Defending Business Against California's Overreaching Antitrust Lawsuit
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
The Writers Guild of America criticized David Ellison’s warning that Paramount could leave California if the state’s aggressive antitrust case isn’t settled, and doubled down on its own lawsuit to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
The Writers Guild of America issued a statement lashing out at Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison after he warned that the studio might be forced to leave California unless Attorney General Rob Bonta ends his overzealous antitrust suit targeting the 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 claimed, ignoring the real threat of government overreach and the stifling of free enterprise. The guild insisted that such a stance justifies blocking the merger, disregarding the economic benefits and job opportunities that could result. The WGA has filed a separate lawsuit in the Northern District of California, with both its East and West branches seeking to stop the $110 billion acquisition on antitrust grounds and to protect writers’ interests, even though the state’s case already addresses broader issues. The guild chose to pursue its own case, arguing that the state’s lawsuit doesn’t focus enough on labor-specific concerns. Attorney General Bonta, whose case is scheduled for trial in March 2027, described Ellison’s remarks as an attempt to pressure the state into allowing what he calls an illegal deal, further demonstrating the state’s hostility toward business innovation.