Xavier Becerra, the Democratic nominee to become the next governor of California, recommended that state attorneys general and Paramount reach a settlement and avoid an antitrust trial over the proposed Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
Weighing in for the first time on the lawsuit, Becerra said at a Politico conference on Tuesday, “I hope it settles before court. It is easier to stand in a conference room and settle than it is to stand in a courtroom. I say that having had to stand both in the conference room and in the courtroom. You get way more done in the conference room than you do in the courtroom.”
Becerra, the former secretary of health and human services during the Biden administration, served as California’s attorney general from 2017 to 2021. That is the job now held by Rob Bonta, who is leading 12 state attorneys general in their lawsuit to block the transaction.
Becerra did not weigh in on the merits of the state AGs’ case, but said, “Having done antitrust cases, these are not easy. They’re a different animal from most litigation. They are very difficult. They are very fact intensive. The law doesn’t keep pace. All I know is this, in terms of what’s going on in this particular case, the entertainment industry is our baby in California. We have to fight to keep it vibrant. If a merger is good, that helps that keeps it vibrant, I’m willing to say, let’s take a look. If that merger undermines the ability of the industry of remaining vibrant, then I’m going to take … a closer look as well. At the end of the day, is it good for the entertainment community in California? Does it benefit California families to have another merger occur? And then, at the end of the day, who will settle it?”
Asked about reports that Paramount CEO David Ellison has raised the prospect of the company exiting California if no settlement is reached, Becerra said, “Having a major player in the industry leave would not be good. At the same time, I said as well, ‘Is it going to be good for working families?’ Having them leave leave the state is certainly not good for working families. So let’s be adults, not be kids. Conference room, not courtroom.”
Earlier, Becerra’s Republican rival, Steve Hilton, blasted the state AG case, calling it “totally politically motivated.” He said that Bonta’s arguments “just don’t add up.”
