California Attorney General Rob Bonta has canceled a scheduled Monday meeting with Paramount, which was intended to address the company's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Bonta is spearheading a multi-state antitrust lawsuit aimed at blocking Paramount Skydance's proposed purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount has agreed to delay the closing of the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition while the case moves through the trial phase. Image caption: The Paramount sign outside its building at 1515 Broadway in New York, US, on February 17, 2026.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday scrapped a meeting with Paramount Skydance, citing the company's "lack of good faith" in early settlement discussions surrounding its planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Bonta stated in a release: "Our office held talks with Paramount last Friday. Paramount failed to keep the contents of those discussions confidential. The company not only leaked purported details of the settlement negotiations but also misrepresented the information, demonstrating a lack of good faith." He added, "Once Paramount drops its games and approaches this sincerely, our office is willing to meet again."
Bonta noted that the meeting originally set for Monday with Paramount representatives has been called off. The California attorney general is leading a coalition of states in litigation to prevent Paramount Skydance from acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery. Spokespersons for both Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment on Monday. The New York Times was first to report the developments.
Bonta had previously indicated in an interview his willingness to engage in settlement talks, describing the lawsuit as a "clear-cut" antitrust case. "We prefer to resolve disputes in the boardroom rather than the courtroom, but for now we are moving forward with the litigation. I hope the other side will focus on the actual allegations raised in our complaint," Bonta said on Thursday. Even so, he emphasized that resolving the lawsuit would require Paramount to implement "strong structural remedies."
In July, Bonta, along with attorneys general from 11 other states, filed suit to block the acquisition. The complaint alleges the deal would create a media giant controlling a significant share of film and basic television programming content. Bonta told last week that the case is not focused on streaming operations, CNN, or foreign regulators.
Paramount plans to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for roughly $110 billion and has agreed to push the deal's latest completion date to June 2027. The antitrust trial is set to begin in March of the following year. Paramount has previously called the lawsuit "a distortion of industry competition" and continues to push forward with its plans to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
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