Judge Allows Amicus Briefs, Delaying Approval of Paramount-Warner Merger

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin on Thursday granted Block the Merger’s request to accept amicus briefs in the pending antitrust settlement that would clear the $111 billion merger of Paramount Global with Warner Bros. Discovery. The judge ordered that all briefs be filed by 12:01 a.m. Pacific time on September 25, 2026, and said the deadline will not be extended.

The ruling comes hours before a virtual hearing scheduled for 11 a.m. PT, which many observers expected to endorse the settlement reached between the companies and a coalition of state attorneys general. By requiring additional briefing, the court has effectively postponed any formal approval of the deal at that hearing.

Free Press co-CEO Jessica J. González welcomed the decision, stating that the public will now have an opportunity to weigh in and that the consent decree is “weak and unenforceable.” She said the organization will detail its concerns in a brief due at midnight.

Paramount’s lawyers argued that the proposed consent decree is “procedurally and substantively fair,” noting that it was negotiated by twelve state attorneys general and includes relief in the three markets alleged in the original complaint. They contend that the agreement binds only the parties that consented to it and that non-party objections do not alter its validity.

Opponents of the merger, represented by the group Block the Merger, warned that allowing non-parties to delay the transaction without filing a separate antitrust action could cause “massive harm” to Paramount and undermine the protections of the Clayton Act.

The delay also prolongs a daily fee of $7 million that Paramount would owe to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders beginning October 1, a cost that could exceed $630 million per quarter if the merger remains stalled.

State officials, including California Attorney General Rob Bonta, have been urged by local leaders and industry groups to resolve the dispute through negotiation rather than continued litigation. Both the California AG’s office and Paramount declined to comment on the judge’s order beyond their existing filings.