David Ellison’s California Exit Threat Puts AG Bonta on Notice

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is putting a major Hollywood deal on a costly clock. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has reportedly told senior executives that the company could begin leaving California on October 1 if the state won’t enter settlement talks over Paramount’s planned purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. That’s because beginning October 1, Paramount could face a $7 million daily ticking fee payable to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders if the deal hasn’t closed. By the time the states’ antitrust case reaches its scheduled 2027 trial, the delay could cost Paramount well over $1 billion. Bonta leads a coalition of 12 state attorneys general seeking to block the roughly $110 billion transaction. The lawsuit argues that the merger could harm competition in theatrical film distribution, blockbuster movies, and cable programming. Bonta has called Paramount’s relocation threat an attempt to pressure regulators. Still, this looks political. California politicians have spent years talking about saving entertainment jobs while making the state harder and more expensive for entertainment companies to operate in. Now one of Hollywood’s biggest employers is openly consi...