SAG-AFTRA Opposes Paramount-WBD Deal But Doesn’t Join WGA Lawsuit

SAG-AFTRA leadership has taken a slightly more aggressive stand against Paramount Skydance‘s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, but it has stopped short of joining its sister union the Writers Guild of America in bringing the issue to court.

The union’s National Board adopted a resolution over the weekend that publicly opposes the merger unless there are certain production guarantees.

The action, while largely symbolic, also puts on record the guild’s support for both of the pending anti-trust lawsuits filed by the Writers Guild of America and a group of states’ attorneys general to block the merger.

“Today’s board resolution officially puts on record our demand that the acquisition not proceed unless there are enforceable safeguards against reduced production by the studios with guarantees of increases in the percentage of productions made in the USA,” SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a joint statement about the situation.

The statement continued, adding: “We acknowledge that there are other demands that could be made as a part of this process. We have concluded that at this time, those issues are best addressed by other advocates while we focus specifically on the very real economic impact on our members and other industry workers.”

SAG-AFTRA had not previously taken a firm position on the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Back when Netflix was still in competition for the storied studio, the actors union said that it would conduct a “complete and thorough analysis” of the deal before picking a side but also warned that the potential deal raised “many serious questions”.

The statement over the weekend assured members that leadership had done their due diligence before adopting the recent resolution, including meetings with lawyers, guild leaders, studio executives, and even the Department of Justice.

The merger received rather quick approval from the Trump administration’s DOJ followed by approvals from other countries including a green light from the European Union with concessions around film distribution. A decision the key U.K. market, however, is is still pending.

The Ellisons had hoped to close the deal in the third quarter, but it’s now on pause. A dozen state attorneys general led by California’s Rob Bonta sued to block the merger on antitrust grounds and were successful in obtaining a temporary restraining order. With a hearing looming next week on a preliminary injunction, Paramount agreed Friday to go directly to trial instead.

The WGA has filed its own lawsuit to block the merger. Both cases reside with same judge in District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland County.