Newsom backs Paramount-Warner settlement amid studio relocation threat
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California Governor Gavin Newsom publicly supported efforts to settle the antitrust case challenging the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, arguing that an agreement negotiated outside court would be preferable if possible. His intervention matters because California’s film industry and employment could be affected, particularly after Paramount Skydance warned it might move one or two historic Hollywood studios out of the state if the case remained unresolved by October.
Newsom said discussions were taking place “in real time” and that California Attorney General Rob Bonta must also consider the interests of the 12-state coalition bringing the lawsuit. He said he took Paramount Skydance chief executive David Ellison’s relocation threat seriously, while believing such a move would not serve the company’s long-term interests. Newsom’s position aligned him with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who also urged the sides to seek common ground.
- Newsom supports settling the Paramount-Warner antitrust dispute.
- Studio relocation threats raised concerns for California jobs.
- Any deal must satisfy a 12-state legal coalition.
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Political and legal wrangling over Hollywood's future is coming to a head. Paramount and Warner Bros are locked in an antitrust dispute, and California's governor, Gavin Newsom, has now publicly backed efforts to settle it. The case involves a coalition of 12 US states, meaning any resolution has to satisfy more than just California's interests.
The row has taken on extra weight because David Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Skydance, has warned he could move one or two major studios out of California if the dispute isn't settled by October. That threat matters because the entertainment industry is a major source of jobs and identity for the state, so any relocation would be a significant economic and symbolic blow.
Newsom's intervention puts him in step with other senior California Democrats, including gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both of whom have also called for the two sides to negotiate. The state's Attorney General, Rob Bonta, represents the wider group of states pursuing the case, so his position is central to whether a settlement can be reached that all parties accept.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Advocates of a negotiated settlement argue that safeguarding California's entertainment jobs, tax revenue and its standing as the industry's global hub is a legitimate and pressing governance priority, particularly when a chief executive has explicitly linked the case's resolution to relocation decisions. They contend that a swift, well-crafted deal can still secure meaningful competitive safeguards while avoiding the drawn-out uncertainty of litigation, which itself risks accelerating the departures it seeks to prevent. On this view, pragmatic dealmaking that keeps studios and livelihoods rooted in the state is a responsible use of political influence, not a retreat from principle.
The case against
Those wary of a rushed settlement argue that antitrust enforcement exists precisely to check concentrated market power on its legal merits, and that bending to a company's relocation threat risks setting a precedent where corporate leverage, rather than the law, dictates regulatory outcomes. They point out that the case was brought by a twelve-state coalition, not California alone, and worry that political pressure to settle quickly could shortchange consumers, competitors or workers elsewhere in favour of protecting one state's economic interests. For this camp, a resolution reached under a business-imposed deadline undermines confidence that the process was driven by evidence rather than expediency.
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Originally published by The Hollywood Reporter as “Gavin Newsom Says Paramount Settlement Talks Happening In “Real Time,” Signals He’d Like a Deal”.