![]() We're offering a 2-week trial of WrapPRO for $1. If you’ve been wanting to check out our full coverage, now’s the time. Greetings!The Warner Bros. Discovery-Paramount merger may have cleared a significant milestone today, but that doesn't mean the fight to stop the deal is done. Even as Warner Bros. shareholders voted to approve the deal, Jane Fonda's Committee for the First Amendment held a rally outside of the company's Manhattan headquarters protesting the merger, citing the potential for it to devastate the entertainment community. Even New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged shareholders to vote no. Fonda's group was quick to respond once the approval had officially gone through. “Today’s decision by Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders to advance a merger with Paramount is a serious setback — for our industry, for the workers who sustain it, for consumers, and for the fundamental democratic values that depend on a diverse and independent media landscape,” the statement read. “But this merger is not a done deal — and this fight is far from over.” Despite the belief that federal regulators will rubber stamp this merger, there's growing sentiment that others will step in — namely the various state attorneys general. After all, they're fresh off of a legal victory against Live Nation and the halting of the Nexstar-Tegna merger, and could try for a hat trick by suing to block this deal. The U.K. and EU may also represent obstacles. While European regulators have traditionally followed the lead of the Justice Department, we're in a different world now. Tensions stemming from the Iran War to last year's trade war could have an impact on how they view a deal, which has become so intrinsically linked to Trump. Our Lucas Manfredi breaks down who could play spoiler to Paramount and Warner Bros. and what those processes could look like. Last week, Mark Ruffalo joined several experts on a Senate antitrust subcommittee hearing to discuss the risks that come from such a combination. “We do not have to watch ‘Citizen Kane’ or read ‘1984’ to understand that the concentrated oligarchic control this merger represents is a threat to free press, an informed populace and democracy itself,” Ruffalo said. Roger Cheng Before we move on, be sure to follow me on my socials linked below for the latest updates. DMs are open for tips.
While the state AGs haven't officially made any moves, they've built a playbook out of the Live Nation and Nexstar-Tegna wins, and have answered the question of how the AGs would fare without the support of the federal government...
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