Ari Emanuel is at the center of a Paramount fight over when the antitrust trial over Warner Bros. Discovery should begin. California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Paramount Skydance Chairman David Ellison are pressing U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín to choose between Nov. 4 and April 5, 2027.
Bonta and 11 other Democrat attorneys general want a two- to three-week trial starting April 5, 2027. Paramount says Nov. 4 is enough time. The difference is not just calendar work: the deal’s ticking fees would add $650 million every quarter, or $7 million a day, while the fight drags on.
Paramount's Nov. 4 request
Paramount said Friday that “Our request for a November trial date is more than sufficient to give both sides the time they need to conduct discovery, gather evidence, and prepare for trial.” The company also called the states’ spring request “nothing more than a stonewalling tactic.”
That argument fits Ellison’s push to finish the nearly $111-billion takeover as quickly as possible. Paramount agreed early this year to pay Warner investors $.25 per share per quarter beginning Oct. 1, and it also agreed to pay Warner shareholders at least $31 a share.
Bonta seeks April 5, 2027
Bonta’s side is betting on a later start even after the U.S. Justice Department approved the merger last month. Some observers see that as a steep climb, but the states are still asking for a spring 2027 trial, with the Writers Guild of America joined to the challenge.
The stakes are visible in the market data around the deal. Paramount stock has lost about 20% of its value since the beginning of July and is down nearly 40% since early January, while Warner shares gained 3.3% Friday to $26.30.
Araceli Martínez-Olguín decides
Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín now has to choose whether the case moves on Nov. 4 or waits until April 5, 2027. For Ellison, the faster date would shorten the period in which ticking fees continue piling up and keep the merger fight from lingering into next spring.
