Writers Guild sues to block Paramount’s $110 billion Warner Bros Discovery deal

The Writers Guild of America sued in federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday to block Paramount Skydance’s proposed $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The lawsuit says the merger would squeeze writers’ pay and reduce the number of film and television projects that get made. It came one day after a coalition of 12 Democratic state attorneys general filed its own antitrust challenge.

The guild’s complaint says a combined Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery would have both the incentive and the ability to suppress writers’ wages and limit output. It says fewer major buyers in Hollywood would weaken bargaining power for screenwriters, narrow staffing in writers’ rooms and make it harder for smaller or riskier projects to get greenlit. The Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East together represent about 18,000 members across the entertainment industry.

Paramount says the deal would create more opportunities for writers and help the company compete more effectively with Netflix and Disney. It says Hollywood has already been cutting back on production, making consolidation a way to generate more work rather than less. Paramount expects the Warner Bros. Discovery deal to close in the third quarter of 2026.

The WGA has opposed earlier media mergers including Disney-Fox, Amazon-MGM, AT&T-Time Warner and Comcast-Time Warner Cable. It says repeated consolidation in media has hurt workers, reduced competition and weakened free expression. The guild says the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery transaction would violate antitrust law by reducing job opportunities, lowering pay and worsening working conditions.

The states’ separate case is being led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Paramount will pay a ticking fee of 25 cents per share each quarter after Sept. 30 if the transaction is not completed, a liability it has said is worth about $650 million in cash value per quarter.