NEW YORK: New York Attorney General Letitia James today released the following statement after the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a temporary restraining order barring Paramount Skydance Corp. (Paramount) from completing its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (Warner Bros.):
“This lawsuit is about a simple fact: when one company controls a massive share of our film and television industries, workers, artists, businesses, and consumers suffer.
“Paramount’s unlawful merger with Warner Bros. would mean more expensive theater tickets, higher cable bills, fewer opportunities for workers, and fewer original stories shared with audiences across the country.
“Today’s decision is an important victory for all those who would be hurt by this merger, and I look forward to continuing to fight this case.”
On July 13, Attorney General James and 11 other attorneys general sued Paramount and Warner Bros. to block their $110 billion merger that would illegally reduce competition throughout the film and television industries. The proposed merger would combine two of Hollywood’s five major film studios and two of the five major basic cable companies, giving Paramount control over more than 50 popular news, sports, and entertainment channels, as well as three of the top streaming services. The lawsuit alleges that Paramount would have immense power in the entertainment industry that would likely lead to higher movie ticket and cable bills for consumers, fewer new releases, and fewer opportunities for workers and businesses in the film and television industries.
The court today granted Attorney General James and the coalition’s motion for a temporary restraining order stopping the merger from being carried out until the court rules on the coalition’s motion for a preliminary injunction to further halt the merger.
Joining Attorney General James in this case are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.
For New York, this matter is being handled by Assistant Attorneys General Pratik Agarwal, Morgan Feder, and Will Margrabe and Attorney General Fellow Jaya Mantovani, all of the Antitrust Bureau, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Elinor Hoffmann and Deputy Bureau Chief Amy McFarlane, and with the assistance of Chief Economist Chitra Marti. The Antitrust Bureau is part of the Division for Economic Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Christopher D’Angelo and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.
