The cost of Rob Bontas fight against Paramount deal

The costs are clear: Losing Paramount Pictures could cost California $21 billion and nearly 58,000 jobs. That’s the tally from the experts at the LA County Economic Development Corporation’s Institute for Applied Economics.They say that if Paramount follows through on a threat to leave California, which it has says it will do if Attorney General Rob Bonta and other attorneys general do not drop their antitrust lawsuit to block Paramount Skydance’s merger with Warner Bros.Discovery.

Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.Please provide a valid email.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story.

The broader impact could be even more devastating.Already, Hollywood has lost over 40,000 jobs — 30% of its peak — in just the last few years alone.The departure of another major studio would send a terrible signal that LA is no longer the capital of the world’s entertainment industry.The city would lose investment — and hope.Bonta says he is helping consumers by protecting competition.That’s also what he said when he backed the state’s lawsuit against a merger between JetBlue and Spirit in 2024 that would have saved the latter airline from bankruptcy.Spirit failed, and airline passengers have less choice than before.Bonta’s real motivation is partisan politics.

Bonta and other Democrats are furious that CNN might be less left-wing under new management, as with Paramount’s CBS News.They are playing a dangerous political game at the risk of tens of thousands of jobs, including union jobs.There’s lots of talk nowadays about how to fix the film industry.It is a complex puzzle.But the one thing we should not do is cause more damage to Hollywood at a vulnerable moment — like Bonta’s anti-Paramount lawsuit.Paramount can be accused of playing hardball.

But it is also a business — and California has become hostile to businesses...