Paramount Skydance mulls CNN sale to resolve $110bn merger lawsuit

Paramount Skydance is considering a sale of CNN as it battles a multistate antitrust lawsuit over its proposed $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim said on August 12, 2026.

California and 11 other states filed the case to block the merger on competition grounds. Delrahim, speaking at Politico’s Agenda California conference, said the company had been “transparent” and was open to working with both Republicans and Democrats, adding, “We’re not naive to know that politics does not exist.”

David Ellison, whose father is Oracle cofounder and Trump ally Larry Ellison, has faced questions about his pledge to protect CNN’s editorial independence. He reiterated the commitment in a New York Times op-ed. CNN media analyst Brian Stelter noted the assurances echo promises Ellison made before Paramount Skydance took control of CBS News.

CBS hired right-leaning opinion writer Bari Weiss to lead CBS News and appointed former Trump administration appointee Kenneth Weinstein as ombudsman. The network has faced accusations of a rightward shift, including shelving a 60 Minutes investigation into Trump’s deportation policy and holding a town hall with Erika Kirk, widow of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Anchors Anderson Cooper and Scott Pelley have departed.

Delrahim also confirmed reports that Paramount was considering relocating operations amid the lawsuit. “If I was governor, I wouldn’t want to lose Hollywood from the state,” he said. The Writers Guild of America criticised the reported threats, saying this type of behavior is precisely why the merger should be blocked.

Seth Stern, director of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said selling CNN would not resolve the antitrust case, which has “nothing to do with CNN,” nor separate censorship concerns.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has warned the combined company would control 27 percent of theatrically released films in the US market. In midday trading on August 12, Paramount Skydance stock was up 1.1 percent and Warner Bros. Discovery stock up 1.4 percent.