Writers Guild condemns Paramount CEO's threat to leave California over antitrust suit

The Writers Guild of America issued a statement rejecting Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison’s warning that the studio might withdraw from California unless state Attorney General Rob Bonta settles an antitrust suit aimed at blocking Paramount’s planned merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.

"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. The guild added that such conduct underscores why the merger should be blocked. The WGA has filed a separate lawsuit in the Northern District of California, jointly brought by its East and West branches, seeking to stop the $110 billion acquisition on antitrust grounds and to protect writers’ interests. The guild chose to pursue its own case rather than join the attorney general’s broader action, arguing that the state-level suit does not address labor-specific concerns. Attorney General Bonta, whose own case is scheduled for trial in March 2027, described Ellison’s remarks as an attempt to pressure the state into allowing an illegal deal.