California lawmakers express concerns about Paramount's deal for Warner Bros.

California Democrats successful Congress are raising concerns astir Paramount Skydance’s projected takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery — a $111-billion woody that would dramatically reshape Hollywood by consolidating 2 historical movie studios.

Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) and 33 different members of Congress connected Thursday urged California Atty. General Rob Bonta to scrutinize imaginable antitrust harms that would travel from billionaire David Ellison’s projected takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The lawmakers’ run comes aft much than 4,000 amusement manufacture actors, producers, directors and unit members, including Jane Fonda, Ben Stiller and J.J. Abrams, signed an unfastened missive urging that the woody beryllium blocked.

“We stay acrophobic that the projected merger could harm California workers and consumers,” the 34 lawmakers wrote successful their missive to Bonta. “We truthful respectfully impulse you to intimately analyse the imaginable effects of this merger and, if you find that this merger would person anticompetitive effects, usage your champion judgement to prosecute the due people of action.”

The woody would bring unneurotic Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, streaming services HBO Max, Discovery+ and Paramount+, much than 2 twelve cablegram channels and CBS News and CNN. Paramount has said it expects the woody to pb to astatine slightest $6 cardinal successful outgo savings, raising fears among the Democrats astir wide occupation losses.

Bonta has antecedently told The Times his bureau is reviewing the projected Paramount-Warner Bros. combination. Bonta separately has brought a suit with a twelve different authorities attorneys wide to artifact different merger favored by President Trump — a monolithic consolidation of tv stations by Nexstar Media Group. In that case, a national justice successful Sacramento has issued a impermanent injunction to frost the merger until a proceedings connected whether that woody violates century-old antitrust laws.

The Paramount-Warner Bros. transaction is expected to alert done its national reappraisal astatine the U.S. Justice Department, successful part, due to the fact that billionaire Larry Ellison, who has agreed to backstop the deal, maintains adjacent ties with Trump. Paramount has said it expects the woody to beryllium completed earlier the extremity of September.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - JUNE 28: Congresswoman Laura Friedman announced the unfreezing of $20 cardinal utilized to forestall the dispersed of HIV that the Trump medication had tried to cut. She said the funds successful those grants are “budget dust,” practically negligible amounts. Photographed astatine APLA Health, Michael Gottlieb Health Center successful West Hollywood, CA connected Saturday, June 28, 2025. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Trump has agitated for changes astatine CNN, 1 of Warner’s astir salient properties. Ellison’s lad David, who is president and main enforcement of Paramount, hosted a enactment successful Washington 2 weeks agone to grant Trump and different high-level furniture officials, including immoderate who person expressed a tendency to spot Ellison successful complaint of CNN.

“The projected merger does not hap successful a vacuum,” the lawmakers wrote. “Decades of consolidation successful this manufacture person already resulted successful reduced output, higher prices, less choices, and little innovation, portion merged studios look fewer consequences for breaking their pre-merger promises.”

The missive besides called into question the Trump administration’s antitrust enforcement.

“Given that we cannot person assurance that the Trump medication reappraisal of the merger volition beryllium conducted according to the law, and with the champion interests of American workers and consumers successful mind, it is adjacent much captious that you behaviour a thorough, autarkic review,” the lawmakers wrote successful the missive to Bonta.

David Ellison has promised to support the 2 studios’ existent merchandise docket of 15 movies a twelvemonth each, oregon a full of 30 films a year.

But the projected merger would saddle the combined institution with $79 cardinal successful debt, stoking fears that Paramount would request to marque steep outgo cuts to equilibrium specified a ample indebtedness load. In the past 3 months, Paramount lined up banks and different organization investors to supply span financing to assistance propulsion disconnected the transaction, the institution said.

Friedman’s missive noted that, past summer, on-location accumulation successful the Los Angeles country has declined by 13% and that 42,000 movie manufacture jobs were mislaid betwixt 2022 and 2024, a play that included 2 labour strikes.

The missive was besides signed by a radical of salient Democrats that includes Reps. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village), , Lou Correa (D-Anaheim), , Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), and George Whitesides (D-Santa Clarita).