<p>Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) addressed speculation regarding whether he pressured California Attorney General Rob Bonta to settle with Paramount Skydance concerning the company’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.</p>
<p>“I didn’t pressure anybody,” Newsom stated to reporters on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Bonta, who has opposed the merger for several months, unexpectedly met with representatives from Paramount and reached a settlement. Reports emerged suggesting that Newsom had urged Bonta to pursue this settlement due to concerns about the lawsuit's potential impact on jobs in California, as initially reported by <em>The Wall Street Journal</em>.</p>
<p>The report also indicated that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra supported an out-of-court settlement. This settlement occurred as Paramount was reportedly considering relocating its operations to Texas, Tennessee, or Georgia.</p>
<p>“I made the point — and I made it very publicly and consistently, and it’s been reported maybe two or 300 different ways — that we, me, many folks, including the mayor, soon-to-be governor-elect Becerra, and others, preferred, in the words of Rob Bonta himself, that he focus on getting this done at the ‘boardroom,’ not in the ‘courtroom,'” Newsom told reporters.</p>
<p>Newsom referenced an August statement from Bonta, who expressed a preference for resolving disputes in the boardroom rather than the courtroom.</p>
<p>“We amplified that [and] said this was a better approach,” Newsom added. “So that was the framework, and, you know, he worked hard to deliver for California, and I think he did.”</p>
<p>Bonta has publicly expressed his opposition to the Paramount merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, asserting that it would create an unfair advantage in the entertainment industry. He clarified during the settlement announcement that he does not support the merger.</p>
<p>“This settlement is not a vote of support for this merger; it is not a blessing of the broader merger,” Bonta stated. “If they ever fail to comply with the many critical terms we have in our settlement, we can go to court and enforce it through court and court orders.”</p>
<p>As part of the settlement, Paramount agreed to invest $1.5 billion in production spending in California, release a specified number of films, including independent films, and establish an independent editorial board for both CNN and CBS News. The editorial independence of these news outlets has been a significant concern for Democrats regarding the merger, particularly due to the close ties between Paramount CEO David Ellison and former President Donald Trump through his father, Larry Ellison.</p>