California Gov. Gavin Newsom is denying that he leaned on the state’s attorney general to abandon an antitrust lawsuit against Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, pushing back after progressive critics accused him of engineering the settlement.
The settlement, announced Monday, cleared a major legal obstacle for the combined studio. According to Breitbart News, Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office extracted concessions from Paramount aimed at keeping the studio’s operations in California, among other commitments. Bonta has framed those terms as meaningful wins even while maintaining that he still does not support the merger itself.
A Settlement That Split the Left
The resolution did not sit well with much of the Democratic base. Bonta drew fire from liberal commentators who saw the deal as a capitulation, and a parallel line of criticism landed on Newsom, with detractors alleging that his office had pressured the attorney general to walk away from the case.
In remarks to Axios, Newsom rejected that characterization outright. “I didn’t pressure anybody,” he said, adding that his position had been stated openly and repeatedly. He described a broad coalition — including himself, a mayor, and soon-to-be governor-elect Xavier Becerra — that had urged Bonta to pursue the matter in the boardroom rather than the courtroom, a phrase he attributed to Bonta himself.
Newsom pointed to Bonta’s own televised comments on CNBC as the moment the approach became public, saying his camp amplified that framework. “He worked hard to deliver for California and I think he did,” Newsom said.
Warren: ‘A Disastrous Outcome’
The loudest objection came from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who issued a statement blasting the end of the litigation. She called the settlement “a disastrous outcome” and warned that allowing what she described as a Trump-aligned, foreign-owned conglomerate to dominate American news and entertainment would mean higher prices and fewer jobs.
Warren accused the Trump administration of running “an apparently corrupt antitrust review process” to wave the deal through, and argued the settlement “greenlights an anti-monopoly disaster” that lets a handful of billionaires “call the shots in the American media.” She also dismissed the concessions Paramount offered as “unenforceable promises,” contending that workers and consumers ultimately bear the cost. The new Paramount entity, she wrote, is “a clear candidate for antitrust scrutiny in a future pro-competition Administration.”
Anxiety Inside CNN
Beyond Capitol Hill, the settlement has stirred unease within CNN, whose parent company sits in the path of the merger. The network’s staffers are reportedly worried that Paramount chief David Ellison could wield influence over the cable news outlet once he takes control of the combined studios, according to the Breitbart account.
That concern fits a broader pattern of media-industry jitters about consolidation, though the specific fears described center on editorial independence at CNN under new ownership.
For now, the merger’s path looks considerably clearer than it did before Monday. Bonta’s lawsuit had been one of the remaining formal hurdles, and its resolution removes a legal threat that had loomed over the transaction. What remains is a political fight: progressives who wanted the deal stopped are directing their anger at Bonta and, increasingly, at Newsom, while the governor insists he only ever argued for a different venue — not a different outcome.
Whether that distinction satisfies the settlement’s critics is another matter. Warren’s statement made clear she intends to keep the merger in her sights, raising the prospect of future antitrust scrutiny should a more sympathetic administration take office. For Newsom, the episode adds another front to his ongoing friction with the left wing of his party, even as he positions himself as a national figure.
The reporting on Newsom’s remarks and the fallout from the settlement comes via Breitbart News, which also noted the CNN staff concerns and Warren’s statement.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2026/09/24/watch-gavin-newsom-snaps-at-reporter-amid-blowback-from-left-wing-critics-accusing-him-of-forcing-paramount-settlement/