The Writers Guild Of America West and Writers Guild of America East have filed a lawsuit seeking to block Paramount Skydance‘s proposed $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, alleging it violates federal antitrust law and would cause specific harm to writers.
“With fewer competitors, the merged Paramount-Warner Bros. entity would have both the incentive and the ability to lower costs by suppressing writers’ wages and reducing output. Writers will be paid less and have fewer employment opportunities,” the WGA complaint states.
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Earlier the union praised a dozen state attorneys general who filed suit Monday to block the merger. The WGA East and West wrote in a joint statement: “The merger of two of the largest Hollywood studios will reduce competition in our industry, leading to fewer jobs, lower wages for entertainment workers, less variety of programming, and higher prices for consumers. We have engaged with the offices of many State Attorneys General to explain the impact of this proposed merger, and we commend Attorney General Bonta and this coalition of states for listening to working people in the entertainment industry and fighting to stop this dangerous merger.”
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