The Supreme Court gave California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 state colleagues until September 25 to respond to a legal challenge from Iowa and Montana. The order arrives five days before a $7 million daily ticking fee begins.
Republican Attorneys General Brenna Bird of Iowa and Austin Knudsen of Montana filed a motion arguing the 12-state antitrust lawsuit against Paramount's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is politically motivated and harms their states' economies. The Supreme Court granted expedited consideration but did not rule on the merits, setting a two-week response window over the challengers' request for one.
Starting October 1, Paramount must pay WBD shareholders approximately $7 million per day in regulatory delay fees. At $650 million per quarter, the ticking fees are projected to total $1.3 billion by the time the trial concludes. The federal trial, presided over by Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin, is scheduled to begin March 2, 2027, and run 12 court days through March 19.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has demanded that the 12 states and the WGA post a $1.9 billion bond to cover projected losses while the deal sits in limbo. The states argue the fees are of Paramount's own making. A federal hearing on the bond request is set for September 24.