California Attorney General Rob Bonta was joined by attorneys general in 11 states in filing a legal challenge to the merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. (photo by Edwin Folven)

Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, 3rd District, introduced a motion on July 14 to support California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s legal challenge to the proposed Paramount–Warner Bros. merger.

The motion authorized the county to provide legal support, including a potential amicus brief or supporting declarations, and to share the county’s economic analysis of the merger with the attorney general and the other states challenging the deal. The motion will be considered again by the board on July 21.

“Los Angeles must use every tool available to protect good-paying jobs and the entertainment industry that powers our economy,” Horvath said. “For too long, working people have borne the cost of corporate consolidation, while jobs disappear and production leaves our region. Our economic analysis shows this merger could put thousands of local jobs at risk. As the global capital of the creative economy, Los Angeles County has a responsibility to help make the case against this merger by providing the facts, supporting Attorney General Bonta’s litigation, and standing up for the workers, small businesses, and communities that depend on this industry.”

The motion builds on Horvath’s March 2026 initiative directing the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity to assess the merger’s potential impacts on the regional economy. The county’s analysis found the proposed merger could put nearly 2,500 jobs in the greater Los Angeles area at risk while further weakening one of the county’s signature industries.

On July 13, Bonta led a coalition of 12 attorneys general in filing the lawsuit challenging the $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. by Paramount Skydance Corporation. The proposed merger, the largest in Hollywood history, would combine two of Hollywood’s five major film distributors and two of the five major basic cable channel owners, reducing competition between Paramount and Warner Bros., and inflicting substantial harm on movie theaters, basic cable distributors and audiences nationwide, the lawsuit contends. In the U.S. alone, the combined company would control nearly one-third of theatrical motion pictures, and nearly one-third of basic cable programming. The coalition has asked Warner Bros. and Paramount not to close the merger until after the judicial process concludes.

“I am leading a coalition of states in challenging the proposed merger of Warner Bros. and Paramount and asking the court to block the deal. The unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S.,” Bonta said. “California’s film and entertainment industry touches the lives of Americans daily – it comes into the living rooms of families, has a starring role in many young people’s first dates and is a point of immense pride and employment for Californians up and down our state. Consolidation here not only leads to higher prices – it also leads to fewer opportunities for important stories to come to life, and fewer ways for audiences to encounter stories, ideas and perspectives beyond their own experiences. In this country, no one is above the law. With this lawsuit, California and our sister states are fighting for free and fair markets, not rigged markets. America has no kings in government or our economy.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District for the Northern District of California, alleges that the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which holds that mergers that may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly are illegal. The attorneys general allege that, if Warner Bros. and Paramount are allowed to merge, it would lessen competition in theatrical film distribution and the market for distributing basic cable channels to cable and satellite providers. Bonta was joined in the lawsuit by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.

For information, visit oag.ca.gov.