Paramount Reportedly Settles Blue State Lawsuits, Clears Way for Mega-Merger to Take Over CNN

Jae C. Hong/AP photo

Paramount has reportedly settled with state attorneys general who had been holding up the massive Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

“Paramount Skydance Corp. has reached a settlement with California and other states suing to block its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter,” Bloomberg reported. “Settlement talks came to fruition over the weekend after four states that had opposed terms of a deal outlined with California conceded, said the person, who asked not to be named discussing confidential negotiations. The settlement, which is expected to be announced later today, paves the way for one of the largest mergers in Hollywood history.”

On Sunday, CNN’s Brian Stelter reported that New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and other “blue state” officials were  “resisting” a settlement deal that would allow the merger to move forward.

New York was one of 12 states suing to block the merger unless Paramount agreed to certain concessions, like guaranteeing the editorial independence of  CNN and CBS News. Stelter’s story came one day after Status journalist Jon Passantino was the first to report NY and Connecticut were “pushing back” on the settlement.

“There’s a lot of political overtones to all of this because Paramount has cultivated a close relationship with the Trump administration,” Stelter said. He added that Paramount CEO David Ellison has been pushing for the settlement deal so he could take control of CNN, HBO, Warner Brothers-Discovery before Oct. 1.

“That’s because the deal starts to get more expensive for Paramount starting at the end of September,” Stelter said.

According to Bloomberg:

Lawyers for the states worked all night on the agreement, the person said. Four states — Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and Minnesota — had been holdouts on a possible settlement, but ultimately concluded the expense of the legal battle was not justifiable without California at the helm, the person said.

The states that held out longer did succeed over the past week in securing independent editorial boards for CBS and CNN as part of the deal, the person said.

This is a breaking story and has been updated.

The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
The single summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting from both sides of the aisle. Subscribe now!