Twelve states are suing to block Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery saying it would cancel competition and lead to higher entertainment prices across America.
And now, Los Angeles County wants to join them.
Help from the county being considered could take the form of joining in the lawsuit with an amicus brief, declarations that support the action, and adding as evidence a copy of the county’s recent economic analysis of the merger that found it would put 2,500 local entertainment industry jobs in the greater Los Angeles region at risk.
The possibility of joining the lawsuit led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta was announced on Tuesday, July 14 by Third District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. She read the gist of her future motion — to be heard by the board on July 21 — that characterizes the $81 billion merger as a jobs killer that will further weaken the L.A. County television and movie industry and the county’s overall economy.
Horvath said L.A. County will not stand by and let what she called a merger with potential “anti-trust violations” go unchallenged, especially in the entertainment capital of the world.
“The merger will end competition and result in higher prices, lower quality, and less film content,” said Horvath, echoing similar statements made by Bonta on Monday.
“Los Angeles must use every tool available to protect good-paying jobs and the entertainment industry that powers our economy,” Horvath said in a prepared statement. There are approximately 312,000 employees directly or indirectly involved in the motion picture and television industry in places like Burbank, Universal City, Glendale and throughout the L.A. region, the county reported.
Skydance-owned Paramount said Monday’s lawsuit “distorts settled antitrust law” and maintained its merger would create a “stronger competitor against dominant streaming and technology platforms who have harmed the market for theatrical exhibition and jobs in the entertainment industry.”
The company vowed to “vigorously defend” the transaction. Warner deferred to Paramount for comment.
The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division approved the merger.
The Burbank City Council wrote a letter to Bonta, as well as local members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, stating the city is very concerned that such a merger would tear through jobs at local studios and other businesses in town.
“I’m confident the workers and residents of Burbank would appreciate the county in joining that lawsuit. We would be happy for the County Counsel to step up,” said Konstantine Anthony, an actor, an active member of SAG-AFTRA and a member of the Burbank City Council. He also ran against Supervisor Kathryn Barger in 2024 and lost.
Horvath named those who are actors, set designers and make-up artists and others directly involved in production as being at risk, as content shrinks and prices for cable channels and movies rise. But she emphasized the merger would have a wide-ranging effect on smaller businesses and jobs indirectly tied to the industry, should it go into effect.
Those who would suffer indirectly from less business from fewer studios making and distributing movies and TV shows include caterers, dry cleaners and equipment rental companies, she said.
“L.A. County is the global capital of the creative economy,” she told the board. “The film and TV industry is one of the largest and most vital economic sectors of our regional economy. People in families count on it as the bedrock of our local economy.”
With California leading the legal action, the additional states joining the suit include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.
Bonta said he wants Warner and Paramount not to close their merger “until after the judicial process concludes” — and if the companies do not agree, the coalition will then file a temporary restraining order.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.