WGA Settles $111 Billion Paramount-WBD Suit, Wins 5-Year Layoff Ban and $17.5 Million
Updated
Updated · Variety · Sep 21
WGA Settles $111 Billion Paramount-WBD Suit, Wins 5-Year Layoff Ban and $17.5 Million
3 articles · Updated · Variety · Sep 21
Summary
WGA dropped its antitrust lawsuit against Paramount’s proposed $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery after securing a 5-year ban on writer layoffs at CBS News Broadcast and a $17.5 million payment to its health fund.
Paramount’s earlier settlement with 12 state attorneys general left the guild pursuing a complex antitrust case alone, without government backing, at a cost the nonprofit said would run into the millions through trial.
The guild said it still believes the merger will hurt writers by reducing competition, suppressing wages and cutting employment opportunities, even though it could not block the deal.
WGA cast the settlement as a tactical retreat in a broader fight against media consolidation, calling for structural separation between streamers and studios to preserve competition and programming diversity.