David Ellison was in Washington, D.C. Monday night to continue negotiations for a federal film tax incentive at a dinner hosted by the House Committee on Ways and Means, TheWrap has learned.
The gathering, hosted by committee chair Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), came just hours after 12 state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit to block Paramount’s $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
The bipartisan dinner featured 13 Democratic and Republican representatives from the committee and was planned long before the lawsuit dropped early Monday, an individual with knowledge of the engagement told TheWrap.
Paramount’s chief legal officer Makan Delrahim was also in attendance.
As we mentioned, Ellison’s trip to Washington, D.C. fell on the same day that California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 state attorneys general sued to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Bonta led the charge with the filing, blasting the merger as “unlawful.”
“Today, I am leading 12 states in challenging the proposed merger of Warner Bros. and Paramount and asking the court to block the deal,” Bonta said in a statement earlier on Monday. “California’s film and entertainment industry touches the lives of Americans daily. We’re going to court to fight for a free and fair market and protect this iconic industry.”
Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington were also included in the lawsuit that argued the merger would create an entertainment giant with increased leverage over movie theaters, as well as cable and streaming platforms.
“We will vigorously defend the transaction and demonstrate that this challenge is inconsistent with sound competition policy and the competitive realities of the media marketplace,” a Paramount spokesperson said in response to the filing. “Delaying this transaction will only harm entertainment workers who have already suffered over recent years as technology has disrupted their livelihood and cost California tens of thousands of entertainment jobs.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Cinema United have voiced their support for the state AGs’ legal effort, with Mamdani claiming this was “not a merger that serves the public.”
Politico’s Daniel Miller first broke the news on Ellison’s trip to D.C.