The charge comes nearly two years after performers at Casa Bonita, who include magicians and cliff divers among others, voted unanimously to join the live performers’ union Actors Equity. The NLRB accuses Casa Bonita of refusing to bargain in good faith with Actors Equity, as well as alleging the venue cut more than 1,000 hours from performers while contract talks were still ongoing.

“This complaint vindicates what the workers have been saying throughout 18 months of bargaining: Casa Bonita would rather play games with their livelihoods than seriously bargain for a fair contract,” said Andrea Hoeschen, general counsel for Actors’ Equity Association. “The NLRB’s complaint should be a wakeup call for the employer, but whether or not they choose to do the right thing, we’re in this for the long haul. We’ll see them back at the bargaining table soon – and then we’ll see them in court.”

Known for its lavish, Mexican themed interiors and live shows, Casa Bonita built a cult following among Coloradans since its opening in 1974. That notoriety expanded nationwide in 2003, when Parker and Stone devoted a famous episode of “South Park” around it, which involved Cartman hatching a wild scheme to get into Kyle’s birthday party at Casa Bonita after being refused an invite due to his antisemitic jokes.

In 2021, Casa Bonita closed its doors, citing business challenges brought about by the COVID pandemic. The restaurant found a second life after Parker and Stone vowed to renovate and reopen it. The $40 million-plus reopening campaign was chronicled in the MTV doc “¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!,” which premiered at Telluride Festival in 2024.

But almost as soon as Casa Bonita reopened its doors, complaints from performers and staff reached the press. Axios reported that employees were pressured to sign new contracts offering $30/hour salaries, but excluding any tips from their wages. Continued issues with pay and work conditions on the performer side led to a unionization drive with Actors Equity and IATSE.

In August 2025, Actors Equity president Brooke Shields posted a video on social media addressed to Parker and Stone, urging them to tell Casa Bonita management to bargain in good faith with the union.

“Without the performers who bring Casa Bonita to life, it’s just a big, pink restaurant. It’s time to do the right thing. Please agree to a fair contract, and please enable these performers to focus on providing the world-class experience that Casa Bonita’s guests expect and deserve and help them get it,” she said.

Legal reps for Parker and Stone declined to comment.

The post Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Casa Bonita Sued for Unfair Labor Practices, Trial Set for December appeared first on TheWrap.

Just in time for California AG Rob Bonta and Paramount Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim, the two key figures on each side, to unpack the resolution at TheWrap’s annual business conference TheGrill.

Both Bonta and Delrahim appeared on stage (albeit in separate panels) with The Wrap CEO and Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman, who asked the questions everyone wanted to ask.

The sessions marked a fitting capper to a remarkable and unpredictable 12 months filled with a bidding war, competing corporate egos, several false starts and a dramatic final stand with between Bonta and Paramount. In a final turn, both Delrahim and Bonta talked up the benefits of the deal.

“When you talk about jobs, an increase from 5% to 40% is massive job increases for the United States, and that’s why IATSE, SAG-AFTRA, the Teamsters, the Laborers, and the Directors Guild of America all support the settlement,” Bonta said, while “vehemently, respectfully” disagreeing with the notion that he caved under political pressure.

“It’s a deal that is pro-competitive. It’s a deal that is transformational. That’s why we committed to it,” Delrahim said. “I’m just grateful for the time and the attention and the professional work that Attorney General Bonta and his 11 other colleagues did to work with us in good faith.”

Despite Delrahim’s claims of “good faith,” there were many bumps on the road to get to the settlement, from a canceled mediation meeting over leaks to a threat by Ellison to move Paramount out of California, risking thousands of jobs and billions in economic output.

But now comes the hard part: making good on the settlement’s requirements and building what Ellison has referred to as a “stronger Hollywood.”

Below is a recap of the key takeaways from Bonta and Delrahim.

What turned the tide in reaching the settlement?

When asked about what was the turning point that made both sides reach a settlement, Bonta told TheWrap it was Paramount deciding to negotiate in good faith.

“They weren’t addressing the concerns that we had in the case,” he said. “When they finally decided to sit down and make real commitments on the issues that we cared about when it came to the antitrust enforcement case, that’s when when we settled the case.”

Meanwhile, Delrahim argued that the key to getting a settlement done was that the 12 states had no antitrust case. He said that their argument that Paramount-WBD would have a combined market share of 27% in the theatrical film market didn’t take Amazon MGM Studios, Lionsgate or A24 into account.

“Once you factor those in, that market share goes below 20%, and that’s assuming you take their time frame from ’22 to ’25 for that market share, which is based on box office revenues,” he said. “That’s just not how antitrust works. So once the facts were out before a judge, it would have never ever held up.”

“Every step of the way when you have a bad case, you’re making precedent, and as a former enforcer, it makes it more difficult for the future. So now, every time the state AGs bring a case, guess what the parties are going to do? They’re going to file the motion we filed,” he continued. “The state AGs, I think, realized there’s not a case here. Why are we doing this? And they realized that delay is not going to help anyone, which is why all the unions and everybody supported that.”

He also credited Ellison himself with getting the deal over the finish line during the Yom Kippur holiday.

“David was incredibly involved in this process himself with the staff. He and I would fly up, come down. He was personally invested and he is the single best client a lawyer can have because he’s incredibly genuine, he’s credible, and as a former producer and a guy who understands his business, he can speak with authority when asked these questions and allegations come up about different parts of the business,” he said. “It is incredible. You don’t even have to prepare because the truth actually is incredibly powerful.”

Though Delrahim said Ellison’s threat to move was “not a bluff,” he dismissed the idea that it played any major role in settling the litigation.

Bonta defends settlement, touts it as “opposite” of Disney-Fox merger

Under the terms of the settlement, Paramount-WBD is required to invest a minimum of $1.5 billion over five years in domestic TV and film production.

It also must release at least 30 films a year in theaters for two years and 32 per year for the following three years. At least four films per year must be independent films and at least 20% must be blockbusters. If Congress passes a federal film tax credit, Paramount agreed that 20% of all film production must be in the U.S. for the first two years of the merger and 30% of the next three.

Bonta told TheWrap that the film requirement is the “opposite” of the Disney-Fox merger, noting that the two companies made about 28 films per year before the combination, which would later drop to 14 films per year.

“If the federal film tax credit passes and a California film tax credit passes, it could be a 700% increase in films being made in the United States. Only about 5%, according to Paramount’s own numbers, of their total film production is made in the United States. That could get to 40%,” he added. “So when you talk about jobs, a 700% increase from 5% to 40% is massive job increases for the United States.”

Additionally, the combined company must negotiate the distribution agreements for Paramount and Warner’s suite of cable networks separately and set up an independent editorial board to oversee CNN and CBS News’ operations.

When asked about the future of CNN, news and free speech, Bonta admitted that he’s concerned about there being too much misinformation and disinformation, but argued that the editorial board would help “ensure journalistic integrity and fact-based, non-biased, objective reporting.” Similarly, Delrahim said that while he understands the political concerns around Ellison’s ownership, he does not believe that CNN and CBS News will “foreclose access” to information.

Other settlement terms include continuing to operate Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio lots for five years, honoring collective bargaining agreements with Hollywood’s unions and making community investments, including a $5 million-per-year contribution to an independent film fund and $9.5 million annually for film and TV career training and development programs to benefit qualified educational institutions and community arts organizations.

Failure to comply with the various commitments in the settlement range from a $30 million penalty per film that misses the theatrical goal to forced divestitures of the company’s 49% Miramax stake within a 12-month period as well as BET, Comedy Central, VH1, Smithsonian, Destination America and Science Channel within a 120-day period.

“The proposed consent decree reflects a settlement between the parties
that is a fair, reasonable, and good faith approach to address the competitive harms alleged in the Complaint, and does not violate the law or public policy,” Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín wrote in her order on Wednesday.

Did Bonta cave?

Despite reaching the settlement, some are concerned that the agreement does not go far enough to address the potential harms posed by the merger.

“Allowing the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger to move forward with no meaningful structural remedies will cost jobs, mute creativity, weaken independent journalism, and damage our First Amendment rights. The ripples of this merger will be far-reaching, long-lasting, and impossible to contain,” the Block the Merger coalition said in a statement. “We are going to continue the fight.”

Bonta has also been accused of caving due to Ellison’s threat to move and pressure from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the Democratic nominee in California’s gubernatorial race Xavier Becerra — a claim he “vehemently and respectfully disagrees” with and said had “no influence” on the states’ decision.

“My job is to focus on the antitrust concerns and getting a resolution. So what a company may or may not do, what a governor or a next governor says or doesn’t say, has no influence,” Bonta said. “I’m the attorney general of California. I need to make a decision about the case that I brought with my 11 other attorneys general, and if we get a resolution to that case, as we did when Paramount finally came to the table in good faith, then we take it and we resolve the case.”

He added that it was ultimately a “unanimous” decision for the states to settle the case, though Connecticut AG William Tong unsuccessfully pushed for Paramount-WBD to divest CNN and CBS News during negotiations.

When asked about the political opposition surrounding the deal, Delrahim accused the Block the Merger coalition’s Norm Eisen of using the campaign against the merger as a fundraising opportunity for himself. He also doubled down on previous remarks that some who opposed the merger were antisemitic.

But when asked if there would be any retaliation against creatives who opposed the merger, Delrahim said that would be “silly.”

“We’re in the business of storytelling. We’re in the business of fulfilling consumers’ demands, and you don’t do that,” he said.

What happens now?

With the settlement now approved, the next order of business is to officially close the merger. Ellison has said the deal would close within two weeks of reaching the settlement, putting the closing date in early October.

Paramount’s Class B stock listing is expected to move from the Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 5 and begin trading on the NYSE on Oct. 6. Paramount would distribute warrants to purchase those shares on Oct. 13.

However, the merger is “subject to further closing conditions, and the ultimate timing for the closing of the WBD merger, if any, is not yet certain,” the company noted in a Friday SEC filing. As a result, Paramount may choose to cancel or postpone the move.

While the deal isn’t officially closed, Ellison has already started shaking up the combined company’s leadership team, tapping HBO CEO Casey Bloys to run Paramount+ and HBO Max, with Paramount Streaming head Cindy Holland exiting on Tuesday. Paramount has also recruited Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz to serve as co-CEO of the combined company.

Shares of Paramount closed at $10.33 apiece, up 3.4% at the end of Wednesday’s trading session, while WBD shares finished at $30.95 per share, up 0.32%.

The post Paramount’s Makan Delrahim, California AG Rob Bonta Get Candid on Warner Bros. Merger Settlement appeared first on TheWrap.

When asked about it during TheWrap’s 2026 TheGrill conference on Wednesday, Ellison’s Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim told Sharon Waxman it was “not a bluff,” but pushed back on calling it a threat and dismissed the role it may have played in turning the tide on a settlement.

“I don’t know if that factored into the state AG’s views. I don’t know for one way or the other, but it wasn’t a threat. It was not a bluff,” he said. “What’s great about competition and antitrust is that the states can compete for businesses in different states. You’ve had production going to New Jersey, New York, Georgia and they compete with California.”

Instead, he argued that the key to getting a settlement done was that the 12 states had no antitrust case. Delrahim said that their argument that Paramount-WBD would have a combined market share of 27% in the theatrical film market didn’t take Amazon MGM Studios, Lionsgate or A24 into account.

“Once you factor those in, that market share goes below 20%, and that’s assuming you take their time frame from 22 to 25 for that market share, which is based on box office revenues,” he said. “That’s just not how antitrust works. So once the facts were out before a judge, it would have never ever held up.”

“Every step of the way when you have a bad case, you’re making precedent, and as a former enforcer, it makes it more difficult for the future. So now, every time the state AGs bring a case, guess what the parties are going to do? They’re going to file the motion we filed,” he continued. “The state AGs, I think, realized there’s not a case here. Why are we doing this? And they realized that delay is not going to help anyone, which is why all the unions and everybody supported that.”

He also denied Bonta’s allegations that Paramount leaked the details of the negotiations in August, adding that what was reported was not accurate. After Bonta canceled a mediation meeting, Delrahim said that the circle of Paramount leadership involved in settlement talks narrowed to him and Ellison, as well as one attorney at Latham & Watkins who was not involved in the antitrust litigation.

After negotiating back and forth, the two sides would ultimately reach an agreement on the eve of Yom Kippur on Sept. 21 and announced the terms the following day. Delrahim said it was Ellison himself who got it over the finish line during the holiday.

“David was incredibly involved in this process himself with the staff. He and I would fly up, come down. He was personally invested and he is the single best client a lawyer can have because he’s incredibly genuine, he’s credible, and as a former producer and a guy who understands his business, he can speak with authority when asked these questions and allegations come up about different parts of the business,” he said. “It is incredible. You don’t even have to prepare because the truth actually is incredibly powerful.”

The settlement includes commitments to invest a minimum of $1.5 billion over five years in domestic TV and film production, release at least 30 films a year in theaters and negotiate the distribution agreements for each company’s suite of cable networks separately.

The combined company also must set up an independent editorial board to oversee the CNN and CBS News operations, continue to operate Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio lots for five years, honor collective bargaining agreements with Hollywood’s unions and make community investments, including a $5 million-per-year contribution to an independent film fund and $9.5 million annually for film and TV career training and development programs to benefit qualified educational institutions and community arts organizations.

Failure to comply with the various commitments in the settlement range from a $30 million penalty per film that misses the theatrical goal to forced divestitures of the company’s 49% Miramax stake within a 12-month period as well as BET, Comedy Central, VH1, Smithsonian, Destination America and Science Channel within a 120-day period.

Despite concerns that the settlement is “weak and unenforceable,” Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin signed off on the agreement, calling it a “fair, reasonable, and good faith approach” to addressing the harms alleged in the AGs’ lawsuit.

In addition to unpacking how the deal got done, Delrahim addressed the politics surrounding the deal and the concerns around CNN’s independence.

“I understand people being concerned about somebody’s views that they may not like to have any access to any type of news,” he said. “But am I concerned that this issue is the cause for concern? No. Am I concerned that CNN, CBS News will somehow foreclose access to information? I don’t.”

He accused the Block the Merger coalition’s Norm Eisen of using the opposition against the merger as a fundraising campaign for himself. He also doubled down on previous remarks that some who opposed the merger were antisemitic.

When asked if there would be any retaliation against creatives who opposed the merger, Delrahim said that would be “silly.”

“We’re in the business of storytelling. We’re in the business of fulfilling consumers’ demands, and you don’t do that,” he said.

The post Paramount’s Makan Delrahim Says Threat to Move Out of California ‘Was Not a Bluff’ appeared first on TheWrap.

As part of the agreement, Apple VFX artists will join other IATSE members in having healthcare coverage under the Motion Picture Industry health plan as well as the annual minimum increases that are guaranteed across IATSE’s locals as part of the basic agreement with the AMPTP. Workers also secured minimum-hour guarantees, pay for all hours worked, and overtime protections including holidays and sixth and seventh workdays.

The contract incorporates artificial intelligence protections from the IATSE-AMPTP Basic Agreement. It also establishes daily and weekly turnaround and rest protections matching those provided to editorial crews, meal penalties when lunch breaks are violated, and additional pay for hazardous conditions on set.

While the majority of VFX workers are employed at vendors, IATSE is working to unionize those who work in-house at major studios such as Disney, Marvel Studios, and “Avatar” producers Lightstorm Entertainment.

“For too long, visual effects workers have powered some the industry’s biggest productions without the union protections afforded to many of their colleagues,” said IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb. “It is long past time to fix that. By standing together, Apple Studios VFX workers have secured a strong first contract with enforceable standards, quality benefits, meaningful rest, and protections as new technology changes the industry.”

The post Apple Studios VFX Artists Reach First IATSE Union Contract appeared first on TheWrap.

“The proposed consent decree reflects a settlement between the parties
that is a fair, reasonable, and good faith approach to address the competitive harms alleged in the Complaint, and does not violate the law or public policy,” Martínez-Olguín wrote in her order on Wednesday.

“In years to come, we’ll be able to point to this failure to put consumers over the monied interests of corporate consolidation as the tipping-point moment for media in this country,” the Block the Merger coalition said in a statement opposing the decision. “Allowing the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger to move forward with no meaningful structural remedies will cost jobs, mute creativity, weaken independent journalism and damage our First Amendment rights. The ripples of this merger will be far-reaching, long-lasting, and impossible to contain.

“If there is one discernible benefit to the approval of this corporate takeover, it’s that people are now wide awake and paying attention – and their anger is not going to fade away. We are going to build on this movement to stand united as creatives, policy experts, and public advocates to achieve enduring media policy change that funds and diversifies our media and safeguards its independence. We are going to ensure the government protects the interests of everyday people and prevents them from continuing to be bulldozed for those of oligarch billionaires. We are going to continue the fight.”

Under the terms of the settlement, Paramount has agreed to a minimum investment of $300 million per year for five years in U.S. film and TV production, amounting to a total of $1.5 billion. The company will also release at least 30 films per year theatrically in the first two years of the deal and 32 films per year in the three years after that.

At least four films per year must be independent films and at least 20% must be blockbusters, although the consent decree defines independent films as movies “based on an original screenplay” or simply co-produced by Paramount. If Congress passes a federal film tax credit, Paramount agreed that 20% of all film production must be in the U.S. for the first two years of the merger and 30% of the next three.

Paramount will also be held to its prior commitment to have a theatrical window of 45 days and hold its films back from streaming availability for 90 days. 

On the TV side, Paramount agreed to negotiate distribution for its suite of cable networks and Warner Bros. cable portfolio separately, unless a distributor requests otherwise in writing. It also agreed to establish an independent oversight board at CNN and CBS News and will continue to operate free, ad-supported streaming platform Pluto TV.

Additionally, the companies will maintain their respective studio lots, honor collective bargaining agreements with Hollywood’s unions and make community investments. Those investments include a $5 million-per-year contribution to an independent films fund and $9.5 million annually for film and TV career training and development programs to benefit qualified educational institutions and community arts organizations.

Failure to comply with the various commitments in the settlement range from a $30 million penalty per film that misses the theatrical goal to forced divestitures of the company’s 49% Miramax stake within a 12-month period as well as BET, Comedy Central, VH1, Smithsonian, Destination America and Science Channel within a 120-day period.

The official approval comes after the Block the Merger coalition called the agreement “weak and unenforceable.” Sen. Corey Booker had also asked the court to subject the proposed consent decree to an “independent public-interest review” before entering it.

Martínez-Olguín had asked Paramount and the state AGs to address her outstanding questions and Booker’s concerns prior to signing off on the consent decree. On Monday, the parties said it was a “reasonable compromise” that was negotiated at “arm’s length” with enforcement provisions that “have teeth.”

During TheWrap’s 2026 TheGrill conference, Rob Bonta also pushed back against claims that he caved and that he was pressured to settle due to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the Democratic nominee in California’s gubernatorial race Xavier Becerra or Ellison’s threat to move Paramount out of the state.

“My job is to focus on the antitrust concerns and getting a resolution. So what a company may or may not do, what a governor or a next governor says or doesn’t say, has no influence,” Bonta continued. “I’m the attorney general of California. I need to make a decision about the case that I brought with my 11 other attorneys general, and if we get a resolution to that case, as we did when Paramount finally came to the table in good faith, then we take it and we resolve the case.”

Paramount CEO David Ellison previously said the merger would close two weeks after reaching the settlement, or in early October. Paramount’s Class B stock listing is expected to move from the Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 5 and begin trading on the NYSE on Oct. 6. It would distribute warrants to purchase those shares on Oct. 13.

While the deal isn’t officially closed, Ellison has already started shaking up the combined company’s leadership team, tapping HBO CEO Casey Bloys to run Paramount+ and HBO Max, with Paramount Streaming head Cindy Holland exiting on Tuesday. The company has also recruited Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz for an undisclosed senior role in the company.

The post Judge Approves Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Settlement appeared first on TheWrap.

“I appreciate and understand the diversity of perspectives on this proposed settlement. I will certainly vehemently, respectfully, disagree with with those positions,” Bonta told Sharon Waxman during TheWrap’s 2026 TheGrill conference on Wednesday. “We set out to solve an antitrust problem that we saw in two markets that were impacted by this proposed merger in the distribution of wide-release films market, including blockbuster films, and the basic cable channel licensing market. For a long time there was no proposed solution and then Paramount came to the table in good faith to act sincerely to settle the antitrust case.”

He also pushed back on claims that California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the Democratic nominee in California’s gubernatorial race Xavier Becerra or Paramount CEO David Ellison’s threat to move the Hollywood studio out of the state pressured him into settling. The latter could’ve resulted in up to $21.2 billion loss in annual economic output, per Los Angeles’ Economic Development Corporation.

“My job is to focus on the antitrust concerns and getting a resolution. So what a company may or may not do, what a governor or a next governor says or doesn’t say, has no influence,” Bonta continued. “I’m the attorney general of California. I need to make a decision about the case that I brought with my 11 other attorneys general, and if we get a resolution to that case, as we did when Paramount finally came to the table in good faith, then we take it and we resolve the case.”

He added that it was ultimately a “unanimous” decision for the states to settle the case, though Connecticut AG William Tong unsuccessfully pushed for Paramount-WBD to divest CNN and CBS News during negotiations.

Under the terms of the settlement, Paramount-WBD must release at least 30 films a year in theaters for two years and 32 per year for the following three years. At least four films per year must be independent films and at least 20% must be blockbusters. If Congress passes a federal film tax credit, Paramount agreed that 20% of all film production must be in the U.S. for the first two years of the merger and 30% of the next three.

Bonta further stated this requirement is the “opposite” of the Disney-Fox merger, noting that the two companies made about 28 films per year before the combination, which would later drop to 14 films per year.

The combined company is also required to invest a minimum of $1.5 billion over five years in domestic TV and film production and negotiate the distribution agreements for each company’s suite of cable networks separately. Additionally, it must set up an independent editorial board to oversee the CNN and CBS News operations, which Bonta said would help “ensure journalistic integrity and fact-based, non-biased, objective reporting.”

“I’m an American. I care about our information ecosystem. I think it’s broken. I think there’s too much misinformation. There’s too much disinformation,” he said when asked about the future of CNN, news and free speech. “I think we can only move forward as a society, as a country, if we share the same facts, so that we can base our solutions on those facts. But we don’t share the same facts, so of course I’m concerned about it, which is the reason that among the AGs we had a rightful concern in the settlement process, which is more flexible and more provides more opportunity for creativity.”

Other settlement terms include continuing to operate Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio lots for five years, honoring collective bargaining agreements with Hollywood’s unions and making community investments, including a $5 million-per-year contribution to an independent film fund and $9.5 million annually for film and TV career training and development programs to benefit qualified educational institutions and community arts organizations.

Failure to comply with the various commitments in the settlement range from a $30 million penalty per film that misses the theatrical goal to forced divestitures of the company’s 49% Miramax stake within a 12-month period as well as BET, Comedy Central, VH1, Smithsonian, Destination America and Science Channel within a 120-day period.

Despite Bonta’s comments, the settlement has raised concerns among the Block the Merger coalition, which believes it is “weak and unenforceable.” Sen. Corey Booker also asked the court to subject the consent decree to an “independent public-interest review” before entering it.

But Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin approved the agreement on Wednesday, calling it a “fair, reasonable, and good faith approach” to addressing the harms alleged in the AGs’ lawsuit. Ellison has said that the deal would close within two weeks of reaching the settlement, or early October.

Paramount’s Class B stock listing is expected to move from the Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 5 and begin trading on the NYSE on Oct. 6. Paramount would distribute warrants to purchase those shares on Oct. 13.

However, the merger is “subject to further closing conditions, and the ultimate timing for the closing of the WBD merger, if any, is not yet certain,” the company noted in a Friday SEC filing. As a result, Paramount may choose to cancel or postpone the move.

In addition to the Paramount-WBD settlement, Bonta addressed an up to $17 billion settlement with Meta, which requires the tech giant to introduce rules for teenage users, including a default daily time limits, blocks on nighttime use that can only be lifted by a parent, enhanced parental supervision tools, age assurance measures to detect users under the age of 18 and children under the age of 13 and the appointment of an independent auditor who will oversee compliance.

The proposed settlement will pay the states involved in this case over the course of 10 years, and California alone is expected to receive between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion. In agreeing to settle, Meta denied wrongdoing.

“Meta knew that its designs and its features created mental health harm to the kids. They knew about it and they doubled down on them instead of stopping it,” Bonta said on Wednesday. “They knew they were hurting kids and they kept doing it. That was wrong. That had to be stopped. AGs across the country worked together to stop it, and we got important commitments.”

He called the settlement a “good blueprint for what other states should do,” but urged others in the industry to come on board.

“YouTube needs to comply with the same requirements that Meta is. TikTok needs to comply with the same requirements as as Meta,” Bonta said. “We’re speaking through a lawsuit to TikTok. Yes. And we expect YouTube and Snap to come into compliance as well. So we are actively engaged in helping manifest that outcome across the industry.”

“I think the federal government can play an important role in providing a floor of protection, and then other states can raise raise the floor and have a higher ceiling of protection, as California often does,” he continued. “But [the mental well-being and safety of our kids] is a shared responsibility, a shared problem.”

Bonta is also investigating OpenAI over a hack that its AI programs carried out on their own against another artificial intelligence company, Hugging Face.

“We should all be alarmed. We should all be vigilant in what we demand happen next. There needs to be guardrails. There needs to be enforceable safety protocols that keep us safe,” Bonta said. “No one should be thinking that you know this existential threat of AI is inevitable. It is not. It’s based on what we do next. And so, as the California AG, I have one of the most important enforcement roles in making sure that our homegrown companies, Anthropic, OpenAI, are complying with existing law, are making sure that their product is safe.”

He emphasized that his office is looking “very closely” at what OpenAI and Anthropic are doing, calling it a “top priority.” While he declined to comment on the pending investigation, he isn’t ruling out legal action and said he’d be “fair, firm and aggressive in making sure that we’re safe from AI.” 

“There will be no lack of clarity if and when we act. But we we care deeply about the risks to safety,” he said. “We’re looking at Hugging Face now, so we could act at any time. We would already announce that and we’re broadly concerned about AI’s risks and violations of law generally. I would also say other states are focused on this too, and they should be. This is all hands on deck, in my humble opinion. The more watchdogs, the better. The more regulators, the better.”

His comments come as he is running for re-election as California’s AG.

“I’m focused on being attorney general of this great state. I love it here. My parents brought me here from the Philippines when we fled a dictator and wanted democracy and freedom for me. This gave me a great life, a public school education, a place to raise my kids and build my career. I want to give everything I can to California,” he said. “If my bosses, the people of California, you decide to vote me back in, it will be the honor and privilege of a lifetime to keep fighting for you and for the future of this great state, and whatever comes next, we’ll just have to see. But I love serving, as long as the people want me to serve in public office to represent them and fight for them. It would be my great honor.” 

The post Rob Bonta ‘Vehemently and Respectfully Disagrees’ That He ‘Caved’ on Warner Bros.-Paramount Suit appeared first on TheWrap.

Gigliotti became the third woman in history to win the Best Picture Oscar as part of the “Shakespeare in Love” producer team and has received additional nominations as producer of “Hidden Figures,” “The Reader” and “Silver Linings Playbook.”

She earned an Emmy nomination in 2019 for producing the Academy Awards telecast for ABC and received a second nomination in 2023 for producing the documentary “Wuhan Wuhan.” Gigliotti also served a full six-year term on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where she held leadership roles such as Governance Chair and Finance Chair.

Farah is a three-time Emmy Award-winning producer with nearly two decades of experience across film and television. Early in his career, Farah worked as Stephanie Allain’s assistant and was recruited by her to join the Guild as he rose through the ranks. He began at Funny Or Die as its first producer in 2008 and went on to serve in a number of leadership roles, ascending to CEO.

His work has garnered three Emmys, including two for “Between Two Ferns” for Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program in 2014 and 2015, and most recently for Outstanding Television Movie for “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” in 2023.

Gigliotti and Farah take over at PGA as the organization is set to lobby for a federal film tax credit bill that was introduced in Congress last week. The PGA’s ongoing campaigns also include an initiative to expand studio-funded healthcare for all producers to allow them to receive essential benefits.

“It is an incredible honor to serve as presidents of the Producers Guild of America at such a pivotal moment for our industry,” the pair said in a Tuesday statement. “We are deeply grateful to Donald and Stephanie for their leadership and dedication to the Guild, particularly as they helped guide our members through a period of profound change. The PGA has created a community that supports one another and a Mark that validates the work of a producer at the highest level.  The PGA is dedicated to embracing new opportunities for producers while maintaining a commitment to the core principles of producing: tenacity, perseverance and dedication to all aspects of the work.”

“Leading the Producers Guild has been an incredible privilege. We’re thrilled to pass the baton to Donna and Mike,” the outgoing PGA presidents added. “They share a genuine commitment to supporting producers and the work they do every day. At a moment of profound change across our industry, the Guild will benefit enormously from their distinct perspectives, deep experience and shared sense of purpose. We’re excited to see what they will build together and for the next chapter of the PGA under their leadership.”

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The actress and producer and the horror producer are joining the Cinema United Filmmaker Leadership Council, “a strategic group of world-class producers and directors united in a single cause to champion the future of cinema worldwide,” according to the official release. They will join council leaders Jerry Bruckheimer and Emma Thomas and charter members Ryan Coogler, Brad Bird, Jason Reitman and Celine Song.

Cinema United, formerly the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), is “the world’s largest exhibition trade association representing more than 63,000 movie screens worldwide.”

“We are thrilled and honored to welcome two leaders like Margot and Jason to this influential group,” said Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of Cinema United, a statement. “Margot is a global superstar and the voice of a generation who loves movies on the big screen. Jason is beloved by fans around the world for creating incredible—and scary—experiences in theatres. They are both well-known, fierce advocates of the theatrical experience. I want to thank them both for their commitment, and I look forward to working closely with them to advance this great industry together.”

“It’s an absolute honor to have Margot and Jason join the Filmmaker Leadership Council,” said Bruckheimer. “Their combined impact on this industry is enormous, and I know they will help our efforts immensely.”

“For me, the magic of cinema starts with the cinema itself,” Robbie said. “Storytelling in this format can be incredibly powerful, and I truly believe movie theatres are essential to our art form. I couldn’t be more grateful and excited to be able to work with such a powerful group of creatives to continue to drive the theatrical experience forward.”

Blum added in a statement, “Movie theaters are where fans are made. Bold, creative voices are bringing young audiences back to the movies, and that’s exciting. Turning moviegoing into a habit takes all of us, and this Council gives us a way to do that together.”

The Filmmaker Leadership Council “brings together some of the world’s most influential movie creators to work alongside Cinema United to provide vital feedback and recommendations on the most pressing issues facing theatrical exhibition today—including consolidation, sustainable windows, the promotion and marketing of the cinematic experience, and highlighting innovation and technology.”

Members of the Council meet quarterly to discuss key priorities and upcoming initiatives. Serving as Executive Director of the Filmmaker Leadership Council is Greg Foster, industry veteran and senior consultant for Cinema United.

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The WGAW PAC endorses candidates who support its policy priorities of “competition in media, protecting the right to organize, preserving union health and pension plans, regulation of artificial intelligence and copyright protection.”

In its endorsement statement on Thursday, the union cited Raman’s Save Hollywood Jobs plan released in April and her decision to walk the picket lines with striking writers back in 2023.

“With organized labor under attack nationally, and television and film production leaving Hollywood, L.A. must elect a mayor who is committed to supporting entertainment workers. That’s why WGAW is proudly backing Nithya Raman, who has a real vision for protecting jobs and supporting the entertainment industry,” WGAW President and PAC Board member Michele Mulroney said. “She is a true pro-labor candidate who walks the walk. We need her leadership now more than ever, and we are excited to be supporting her.”

WGAW PAC’s latest endorsement of Raman comes after they previously supported her 2024 bid for Los Angeles City Council. 

“I’m grateful to receive the endorsement of the Writers Guild of America West. Writers are the foundation of this industry, and Los Angeles cannot remain the world’s creative capital if the people who tell our stories can’t build stable careers or afford to live here,” Raman said in a statement. “As mayor, I’ll make City Hall an active partner in bringing production back, by speeding up permitting, reducing costs for smaller productions and making Los Angeles competitive again. As mayor, I will work alongside writers and entertainment workers to keep Hollywood jobs in Hollywood.”

Raman is running against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who is among the voices that called on 12 state attorneys general, including California’s Rob Bonta, to settle an antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the pending $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The WGA had filed a separate lawsuit seeking to block the merger alongside the AGs.

While both Bonta and Paramount had expressed their willingness to reach an out of court settlement, CEO David Ellison had threatened to move Paramount’s operations out of California in order to pressure the AGs to come to the negotiating table.

The Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation estimated Paramount moving out of the state would’ve resulted in the loss of up to $21.2 billion in annual economic output, 57,980 full-time jobs and $1.17 billion in state and local tax revenues.

The two sides would ultimately agree to a settlement on Monday, which includes commitments to invest in domestic TV and film production, release at least 30 films a year in theaters and negotiate the distribution agreements for each company’s suite of cable networks separately. The combined company also must set up an independent editorial board to oversee the CNN and CBS News operations and continue to operate Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio lots for five years, among other things.

Failure to comply with the various commitments in the settlement range from a $30 million penalty per film that misses the theatrical goal to forced divestitures of the company’s 49% Miramax stake within a 12-month period as well as BET, Comedy Central, VH1, Smithsonian, Destination America and Science Channel within a 120-day period.

The WGA reached a separate resolution that includes a five-year layoff pause at CBS and a $17.5 million health fund contribution, but it continues to believe that the merger will “cause damage to writers and the industry at large.”

“Now that the Attorneys General have settled with Paramount, however, as a nonprofit, the WGA must contend with the reality of forging ahead alone, with no backing from government enforcers, with a complex antitrust lawsuit that would cost millions of dollars to pursue through trial,” the WGA said at the time. “Though we were not successful in blocking the merger, our advocacy brought more attention to the harms that this merger—and others like it—will cause. We will continue to fight the harms of industry consolidation.”

In a statement following the settlement, Bass said her concern has “always been that a merger could lead to the loss of thousands of jobs for hardworking Angelenos.”

“From day one, I have been focused on protecting jobs and keeping productions in Los Angeles. For months, the uncertainty of no decision created instability that led to job losses and left workers wondering what it would mean for their futures,” she said. “I do not want to see two of Hollywood’s largest studios consolidated under one company, but now we must focus on holding the companies accountable to these commitments to keep productions on L.A. stages, crews on sets, and ensure paychecks for hardworking Angelenos. I will continue bringing labor, industry, and government together, using every tool we have to protect L.A. jobs and keep film and television production in Los Angeles.”

Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín will address “certain outstanding questions” related to the proposed settlement during a Thursday hearing at 11 a.m. PT. She also granted a request by the Block the Merger coalition to file an amicus brief formally opposing the settlement, which the group called “weak and unenforceable.”

All amicus briefs must be filed on the docket by no later than 12:01 a.m. PT on Friday.

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A day later, protesters from the Block the Merger coalition held a rally in front of the Paramount lot, clearly skeptical about Ellison’s claims. 

“I am so disappointed and pissed off with these people who are playing with us like chess pieces,” said actress Frances Fisher, an active board member of SAG-AFTRA.  

Mark Ruffalo, a vocal critic of the merger, separately called the settlement a “huge win to Trump and his billionaire cronies,” while Jane Fonda said Ellison “sold people in the entertainment industry, as well as consumers of our creative work, down the river.” Another creative who spoke anonymously to TheWrap called the merger “a f–king nightmare.”

That frustration underscores the sentiment of a large swath of Hollywood bracing for the ramifications of an industry-shaking combination between two legendary studios. And while both Ellison and California Attorney General Rob Bonta expressed confidence that the settlement and merger will create new jobs, the creative community in Los Angeles thinks that layoffs and mass restructuring are sure to follow. 

The key reasons for that concern stem from the roughly $80 billion in debt the combined company will need to service and $6 billion in annual merger cost savings targeted within the first three years of closing. That’s before factoring the presumed narrowing of production/development options that comes from one entity owning two of the five major Hollywood studios left and the ill will Ellison has garnered for his family’s political connection to President Donald Trump, which has shown itself through the controversial changes to CBS News and cancellation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” 

“We are looking at the total sea-change event of our industry. No executive will be left safe by this,” one director warned. “We’re staring face first at an utterly destructive shockwave that will impact everyone in Hollywood — even the people who came up with this horrible idea in the first place. Be careful what you wish for.” 

A spokesperson for Paramount declined to comment on this story. 

Hollywood labor reacts

Even as Tuesday’s protest voiced the frustrations of the industry, the unions tried to address the changes. 

SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said the settlement addresses some concerns about production levels and U.S. production investment, but emphasized the commitments are the “lowest standards that our employers must meet” and encouraged the combined company to “exceed their legal obligations and make additional efforts to ensure that our workplaces are healthy and that employers honor our dignity.”

The Directors’ Guild of America said it plans to continue discussions with Paramount on domestic TV production, with a focus on “ensuring a competitive and robust marketplace that protects jobs.” Cinema United President and CEO Michael O’Leary added that while “no settlement can eliminate all risk from a merger of this size, these conditions will enable our industry to adapt and succeed in a rapidly changing media environment.”

But despite reaching its own legal settlement that includes a five-year layoff pause at CBS and $17.5 million health fund contribution, the Writers’ Guild of America warned the deal would “cause damage to writers and the industry at large.”

Elsewhere, the Block the Merger coalition called the move a “bad deal for the future of film, entertainment, independent journalism and a strong democracy in this country.” And one exhibition exec who asked to remain anonymous remained pessimistic about Paramount’s ability to deliver not just with their output, but with the quality of films and marketing that is needed for consistent hits to arrive in theaters. 

Actress Elyssa Phillips, part of SAG-AFTRA, did not hold back in her criticism of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, saying she felt “duped” by Bonta’s promise that he would hold Paramount accountable. 

“They both betrayed California, and it feels like a gut punch because I believed [Bonta],” Phillips said. “Paramount is going to slash thousands upon thousands of jobs because you don’t need two of the same departments whether it is marketing or transportation jobs or so many other parts of our industry at a time when we’re already seeing so much of our economy that’s based around entertainment suffer.”

Another unnamed director warned: “When you have one person who is in the pocket of a fascist controlling this many media companies, it’s not good for free speech. It’s bad for business, and it’s bad for freedom.”

But how bad will it get?

How the merger impacts the creative community

In the next two weeks, there will likely be more questions than clear answers on what happens. Ellison acknowledged as much in his memo, noting that the closing is “really just the starting line” and that bringing the two companies of this size together would take time.

But some initial plans have already been telegraphed, such as combining HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform and cutting costs in areas like back offices and infrastructure like streaming tech stacks. Of course, those cost savings are also widely expected to include layoffs — likely through the elimination of redundant staff. 

We have some idea of how bad it will get. 

In August, an economic analysis of the merger ordered by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors estimated that nearly 4,500 local film and TV jobs could be at risk over the next three years. It also predicted that 2,661 indirect jobs at small businesses that support production, such as prop houses, printers, transportation companies and other vendors, could be impacted. An earlier version of that report published in June pegged the consolidation risk for the combined company’s global workforce at roughly 6,000 employees.

But there are some gains. The settlement calls for a minimum investment of $1.5 billion in domestic production over the next five years and at least 30 films per year theatrically in the first two years of the deal and 32 films per year in the three years after that. At least four films per year must be independent films and at least 20% must be blockbusters, although the consent decree defines independent films as movies “based on an original screenplay” or simply co-produced by Paramount. If Congress passes a federal film tax credit, Paramount agreed that 20% of all film production must be in the U.S. for the first two years of the merger and 30% of the next three.

Presumably, the increase in domestic productions could partially offset Paramount’s merger-related layoffs, although it’s still too early to get a sense of the magnitude of those cuts. Paramount went through a few rounds of layoffs in different units after it was acquired by Skydance. 

The combined companies will also maintain their respective studio lots, honor collective bargaining agreements with Hollywood’s unions and make community investments. Those investments include a $5 million-per-year contribution to an independent films fund and $9.5 million annually for film and TV career training and development programs to benefit qualified educational institutions and community arts organizations. 

Ellison also said on Monday that Paramount would be staying in Los Angeles.

Risk mitigation vs. creative vision

Kevin Klowden, Milken Institute senior fellow and Melcene Advisory principal and managing director, told TheWrap that while the settlement is a short-term “shot in the arm” for theatrical releases and domestic production, it’s unclear how much of the domestic production investment will specifically benefit California.  

“They’re not going to move the company out but that still doesn’t alleviate the larger job pressures that we’re seeing on the reduced production unless local production picks up,”  Klowden said. “Even with the increase in incentives that kicked in last July, the overall local filming numbers have not yet picked up and are down from last year.”

He also warned that the combined company’s heavy debt load could weigh on green lighting and risk-taking with projects, citing “Coyote vs. Acme” as a prime example of the impact media consolidation can have. Though the film was initially shelved for a tax write-off by then-new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, it was rescued by an independent distributor and has since crossed the $100 million mark at the global box office after being released in theaters. 

With even fewer media companies around, that appetite for taking chances could be further diminished.

“There is already a problem in the economics of Hollywood in terms of risk mitigation,” Klowden said. “A number of different kinds of productions that are essentially relatively mid-cost but higher reward, such as romantic comedies, have mostly disappeared because of the fact that the people who are making the decisions don’t know how to project that risk. If that continues, that could be a real problem.”

Failure to comply with the various commitments in the settlement range from a $30 million penalty per film that misses the theatrical goal to forced divestitures of the company’s 49% Miramax stake within a 12-month period as well as BET, Comedy Central, VH1, Smithsonian, Destination America and Science Channel within a 120-day period. 

But experts told TheWrap that the penalties are “toothless” and that there’s no way to enforce the settlement without “playing chicken with the health of the studios.” They also warned that “all bets are off” after the five-year commitment period. 

“Letting the studios make separate decisions isn’t going to last. The only way this works from a synergy standpoint is to look at both sides of the business at the same time and in the same light and move forward together,” said Lloyd Greif, CEO of investment firm Greif & Co. “There’s not going to be competition between a film or a TV show that Paramount is doing versus Warner Bros. That’s fiction.”

Ellison’s talent balancing act

While cost-cutting and layoffs are normal parts of any media consolidation, experts warned that Ellison will have to tread carefully with both creative and executive talent needed to make the economics of the deal work and mend fences with his Hollywood critics through actions rather than words.

“The combined company is going to have a lot of content that they’re going to need to produce and be able to put out simply to justify the numbers, and they’re going to need to not alienate a whole ton of relationships,” Klowden said. “If they operate in a way that makes them hard to work with, there are still enough other alternatives for various people to consider.”

Paramount began shoring up talent deals in the early days of the Skydance takeover, and now counts Jon M. Chu, the Duffer Brothers and James Mangold among its roster of overall deals.

While experts acknowledged it could become “open season” for rival studios like Netflix, Disney, Apple and Amazon to try to poach talent and projects, they were skeptical that the combined company would be abandoned altogether, even after Ellison’s threat to move Paramount’s operations out of California. 

“Most talent can’t really afford to avoid those companies if they’re going to represent a larger share of the market, unless the working conditions are hostile enough that they feel like they just wouldn’t work with them anyway,” Klowden said. “Unless you’re standing on your principles, simply saying no to that larger company cuts out a certain amount of your leverage.” 

Still, Bullseye Entertainment founder and former NBC Studios President Tom Nunan told TheWrap it would go a long way for Ellison’s relationship with the creative community to make specific spending and production commitments within the state of California and continue to give creative freedom and make efforts to retain executives like Warner Bros. Pictures’ Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, HBO’s Casey Bloys and WBTV’s Channing Dungey.

“If he [gets into the middle of everything], it’ll be a disaster with the creative community,” Nunan said. “But if he can just let the creatives do their thing and support them and embrace them, who knows? Maybe this will work out.” 

Drew Taylor contributed reporting to this story.

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