Members
Los Angeles and New York – The following statements are from the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East on State Attorneys General lawsuit to block the proposed Paramount Skydance - Warner Bros. Discovery merger:
The WGA jointly state, "The merger of two of the largest Hollywood studios will reduce competition in our industry, leading to fewer jobs, lower wages for entertainment workers, less variety of programming, and higher prices for consumers. We have engaged with the offices of many State Attorneys General to explain the impact of this proposed merger, and we commend Attorney General Bonta and this coalition of states for listening to working people in the entertainment industry and fighting to stop this dangerous merger.”
“This industry has had a front-row seat to the harms of consolidation, with hundreds of billions wasted on mergers that promise benefits and instead leave us all worse off. This is one of the worst proposed mergers we’ve seen. We’ve been very clear from day one that combining Warner Bros. Discovery with Paramount threatens our members and this industry, and must be blocked,” said WGAW President Michele Mulroney. “We applaud the leadership of California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the coalition of Attorneys General from across the country who have taken action today to block this merger.”
“We strongly support the twelve Attorneys General from across the country brave enough to defend and enforce our country’s antitrust laws,” said WGAE President Tom Fontana. “The proposed Paramount Skydance merger with Warner Bros. Discovery would create an alarming amount of consolation and contraction and cause irreparable harm to our members. People will lose their jobs, their income, their homes. The damage this deal would do to America’s entertainment and news industries would be an absolute, unmitigated disaster. This merger must be blocked.”