Opponents Challenge Paramount-Warner Merger Settlement in Federal Court

The filing, submitted to U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, seeks an "opportunity to be heard" before the court signs off on the agreement reached by Paramount and 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta. The anti-merger coalition—including Free Press, the Committee for the First Amendment, and the Future Film Coalition—contends that the deal fails to mitigate the monopolistic harms of the merger, which would consolidate control over CBS, CNN, and HBO under the leadership of David Ellison.

Constitutional rights litigator Mara Verheyden-Hilliard warned that the consolidation serves only to benefit the Ellison family and political allies, potentially suppressing disfavored viewpoints. Critics have specifically targeted the deal's provision for "News Editorial Independence Boards" at CBS and CNN, labeling them a "First Amendment nightmare." Seth Stern of the Freedom of the Press Foundation dismissed the boards as a "sham," arguing that government intervention in newsrooms is not a valid remedy for corporate media control. Separately, the League of United Latin American Citizens has also urged the court to defer the decree, citing grave concerns that the settlement ignores core issues raised in the initial complaint.