California Attorney General Rob Bonta is open to restarting negotiations with Paramount Skydance as early as this week—but only if the company stops leaking and misrepresenting confidential information to the press.
“It’s up to them,” Bonta told TheWrap in an exclusive interview Monday after abruptly canceling a scheduled mediation session. “They’ve got to figure out where the leaks are and shut them down. And once they figure that out, we’ll be happy to talk with them. I don’t know how long it’ll take them to figure it out and to fix it, but when they do, we’re ready.”
Bonta accused Paramount of leaking details of preliminary talks and distorting them. “They’re being cute. They’re playing games. They are purportedly disclosing confidential information from our discussions, but misrepresenting it to the press. That’s completely inappropriate.”
Paramount denied leaking the meeting in an earlier statement Monday, saying it shares Bonta’s concerns about “public discussions and misreporting that has surrounded this deal” and remains “hopeful” and “ready to continue good faith discussions.”
While open to good-faith talks, Bonta said the timing depends on Paramount and its leadership. He reiterated that state attorneys general are “not interested” in behavioral remedies, such as a pledge for 30 theatrical film releases a year. Instead, a structural remedy could require separate ownership of a “significant” portion of the combined company’s 50 basic cable channels. He declined to specify which ones: “We have some thoughts on [specific channels]. I’m not going to share those with you. If we do end up ever having productive settlement negotiations, that is something to be discussed.”