Seeking to settle a lawsuit with 12 states, Paramount has discussed measures to protect the editorial independence of CNN and the divestiture of Comedy Central.
Page F3From§Eachthe late evening edition — 21 September 2026
Twelve states trade $110 billion antitrust suit for a bond and a 45-minute press conference
Nothing in the settlement stops the purchase. Hold on to that while the winning is explained to you. Twelve states sued; twelve states now hold a bond and a press conference — forty-five minutes of one, given by Rob Bonta himself — and David Ellison holds Warner Bros. Discovery at a hundred and ten billion dollars, a hundred and eleven where the Times keeps count. That is the consideration, what each side handed over for what it took. One side handed over the question. You are thinking a settlement is a kind of verdict. It is not. Nothing is found, nothing is admitted, and a plaintiff who settles has agreed to stop asking in the one room where an answer is compulsory. And the bond? The bond sits, quite still. On the eleventh of September a preliminary report put California's annual economic output between $10.6 billion and $21.2 billion lower should Paramount move its headquarters out of the state absent a settlement by the first of October. Newsom had warned that California employment could suffer if the merger were blocked in court. Ellison thanked the governor ... by name. CNN is to have an editorial oversight board. CNN and CBS News pass under the control of a group chosen by the conglomerate's board of directors.
By the man he guards, the watchman is paid. The watchman sleeps well.
“Twelve attorneys general had a $110 billion company in court and walked out with a bond and forty-five minutes of Bonta at a podium. The governor warned about jobs, the CEO thanked him by name, and now CNN and CBS News answer to a group the conglomerate's own board picks. That is who tells you what happened next time a billionaire buys the thing you get your news from.”
“Look, this was a negotiated outcome — concessions, an oversight board at CNN, that is regulators doing their job. Did I say concessions? What I said was the state protected ten, twenty billion in economic output, which is jobs, real jobs. Nobody caved. The lawsuit was always about getting to a deal, which is what a deal is.”
Earlier in this story
- States drop $110 billion merger suit for minor concessions; Ellison thanks the governor who warned of job losses By Sterling · the early evening edition, 21 September 2026
The receipts
Paramount-Skydance has now settled two major lawsuits that were holding up the company's $111 billion buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery. One lawsuit was filed by the Writers Guild of America; the other by a dozen states.
Paramount's agreement with 12 state attorneys general paves the way for the company to complete its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The looming ownership of the network by David Ellison has caused anxiety in its newsroom for months.
Newsom had reportedly warned that California employment could suffer if the merger was blocked in court, while Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison specifically thanked the governor after the settlement was announced.
By resolving a lawsuit filed by a group of states, the media mogul David Ellison removed the last major hurdle he faced in buying Warner Bros. Discovery.
Few seem totally satisfied by the settlement that will let Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery move forward.
A 45-minute press conference was held by Bonta today to unveil the news.
The deciding factor in California Attorney General Rob Bonta's decision to settle with Paramount and allow its purchase of WBD with minor concessions was political pressure.
The settlement will place CNN and CBS News under control of a group chosen by the conglomerate’s board of directors.
Plus, news outlets sue Trump over White House ban. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.
· California AG Rob Bonta talks tough on Paramount, but says he’s ‘open’ to settlement talks if they’re ‘sincere’ from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Paramount’s relocation to result in $10 billion to $20 billion economic loss in California: Report from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026
· Jewish Artists Condemn Corporate 'Smear Campaign' Against Mark Ruffalo for Israel Criticism from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.