Federal Judge Freezes the Ellison Family’s Bid to Fold CNN Into Its Trump-Friendly Media Empire
A dozen Democratic attorneys general won an early order halting Paramount’s $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery deal, and the delay now threatens the Trump-aligned buyer with more than half a billion
A dozen Democratic states stop the deal cold
A federal judge has temporarily blocked Paramount Skydance from completing its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN, handing a coalition of 12 states led by Democratic attorneys general their first major win against a merger that would hand a close ally of President Donald Trump control of one of the networks he attacks most.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the Northern District of California, a Biden appointee, issued the emergency restraining order barring Paramount from closing the transaction. The order holds for 14 days, and the judge set an August 3 hearing on the states’ request for a longer preliminary injunction that would freeze the deal while the antitrust case proceeds.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 counterparts argued the tie-up would gut competition in film and television. Bonta wrote in the filing that the combination would mean higher prices, lower quality, and less content for viewers, theaters, and cable distributors across the country. Every one of the states challenging the deal has a Democratic attorney general.
A penalty clock now runs against Paramount
The delay carries a steep price. Under the merger terms, Paramount owes Warner Bros. shareholders an additional 25 cents per share for every quarter the deal drags past September 30, a so-called ticking fee that works out to roughly $650 million each quarter. With the court order in place and a full hearing still weeks away, that clock is now working against the buyer.
Why the court refused to let it close
Judge Martínez-Olguín was not persuaded the deal was lawful. Under antitrust law, a merger that concentrates a market is presumed illegal, which puts the burden on the company to prove the combination is safe rather than on the government to prove it is dangerous.
She found the combined firm would command about 27 percent of the wide-release theatrical film market, with concentration jumping roughly 359 points on the standard industry measure.
The proposed merger, she concluded, was so likely to substantially lessen competition that it had to be enjoined. She added that letting the deal close first would make the harm nearly impossible to undo, invoking the long-standing principle that once the egg is scrambled it cannot be put back together.
A merger greased by favors to Trump
The legal fight cannot be separated from the political one. Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, whose son David Ellison runs Paramount, is a longtime Trump ally who has poured tens of millions into pro-Trump causes, and Trump has openly demanded new ownership of CNN.
Trump said last December that it was imperative for CNN to be sold, a not-subtle signal of his preference as his own Justice Department reviewed the deal.
That review has drawn accusations of political favoritism. When the DOJ cleared the merger in June without forcing Paramount to sell off a single asset, Senator Elizabeth Warren said the approval reeked of corruption. A press freedom group has since filed its own suit alleging the Ellisons promised illegal, private benefits to Trump in exchange for waving the earlier Paramount-Skydance merger through.
The pattern predates this deal. Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview, a case the company’s own lawyers had called meritless, in the run-up to a merger that needed Trump administration sign-off.
What Ellison has already done to the newsroom
The stakes for CNN are visible in what has happened at CBS since the Ellisons took over. David Ellison installed conservative commentator Bari Weiss atop CBS News, where she has overhauled “60 Minutes” and presided over the exit of veteran journalists.
The company also canceled Stephen Colbert’s top-rated “Late Show,” a decision Colbert himself linked to Paramount’s payment to Trump, calling it bribery. Weiss is widely expected to run CNN as well if the merger survives.
What comes next
Paramount has vowed to fight, calling the states’ suit wrong on the facts and the law and insisting the merger strengthens competition. The company can appeal, and the August 3 hearing will determine whether the freeze becomes a lasting injunction.
For now, the deal that would concentrate two Hollywood studios, two streaming services, and two major news operations under a family aligned with the president is stalled, and the meter is running.
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