Posted in: HBO, Max, Movies, Paramount+, TV | Tagged: paramount, Warner Bros
Paramount/Warner Bros: Investors are suing David & Larry Ellison over Trump claims, Paramount wants Judge P. Casey Pitts recused, and more.
This week could bring a whole lot of headlines about the pending $110 billion deal between David Ellison‘s Paramount Skydance and David Zaslav‘s Warner Bros Discovery. On Friday, U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts will consider an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the 12 states (California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington) that filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the deal. On top of that, Paramount/Warner Bros is also dealing with uncertainty in the UK, a lawsuit from the Writers Guild of America (WGA), and more. Now, we have an update on the bigger headlines that hit on Wednesday â here's a look:
- Paramount Skydance wants Judge Pitts recused from the case, claiming that he has an “appearance of bias” because of his previous legal work for the WGA. The motion notes that Judge Pitts was in private practice for Altshuler Berzon LLP and served as “long-standing labor counsel” for the WGA. With the WGA's newly announced lawsuit, Judge Pitts' ability to be fair and impartial is being challenged. “WGA is not merely an interested observer in this action; it is an active litigant whose interests are directly aligned with those of the Plaintiffs in this litigation and directly adverse to Paramount's interests. Judge Pitts' prior long-standing representation of WGA â a vocal opponent of the proposed merger that has publicly committed to working with regulators to block it â creates precisely the type of appearance of impropriety that Section 455(a) seeks to prevent,” Paramount Skydance's legal team…