California Democrats in Congress are raising concerns about Paramount Skydance’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery — a $111-billion deal that would dramatically reshape Hollywood by consolidating two historic film studios.

Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) and 33 other members of Congress on Thursday urged California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta to scrutinize potential antitrust harms that would come from billionaire David Ellison’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery — and possibly bring a legal challenge. The lawmakers’ campaign comes after more than 4,000 entertainment industry workers, including Jane Fonda, Ben Stiller and J.J. Abrams, signed an open letter calling for the deal to be blocked.

“We remain concerned that the proposed merger could harm California workers and consumers,” the 34 lawmakers wrote in their letter to Bonta. “We therefore respectfully urge you to closely analyze the potential effects of this merger, and, if you determine that this merger would have anticompetitive effects, use your best judgment to pursue the appropriate course of action.”

The deal, the largest Hollywood merger in nearly a decade, would bring together Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, streaming services HBO Max, Discovery+ and Paramount+, more than two dozen cable channels as well as CBS News and CNN. Paramount has said it expects the combination would bring at least $6 billion in cost savings, raising fears among the Democrats about widespread job losses.

Pressure is growing on Bonta to try to thwart Ellison’s proposed merger.

Bonta has previously told The Times his office is reviewing the proposed combination to determine whether it would harm consumers and industry competition. On Thursday, a spokesperson confirmed there was still “an active investigation,” into the proposed merger, but Bonta’s office had no “updates to share at this time.”

Bonta separately has brought a lawsuit with a bipartisan group of 13 state attorneys general to halt another merger — a massive consolidation of television stations by Nexstar Media Group — favored by President Trump.

The president wants to give more power to Nexstar, which owns network affiliate TV stations, to weaken ABC and NBC. In that case, a federal judge in Sacramento has issued a temporary injunction to freeze the merger until a trial to determine whether that deal violates century-old antitrust laws. Irving, Texas-based Nexstar is appealing the ruling.

Critics of the Warner Bros. deal are nudging Bonta to separately bring a lawsuit to block Paramount’s proposed takeover of its rival.

“Writers have seen merger after merger leave fewer and fewer companies in control of what our members can get paid to write,” Writers Guild of America West President Michele Mulroney said to make a case against the merger during a press briefing last month.

Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Paramount transaction that would pay them $31 a share.

Several U.S. senators, including Cory Booker (D-N.J.), also have sounded alarms, including about plans to bring sovereign wealth funds representing the royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi into the deal as minority investors. Those Middle Eastern investors would hold a nearly 50% equity stake of the new company, although Paramount has said the wealth funds would not have board seats.

The Paramount-Warner Bros. transaction is expected to fly through its antitrust review at the U.S. Justice Department, in part, because billionaire Larry Ellison, who has agreed to backstop the financing for the deal, maintains close ties with Trump. Paramount has said it expects the deal to be completed before the end of September.

Trump has agitated for changes at CNN, one of Warner’s most prominent properties. Ellison’s son David, who is chairman and chief executive of Paramount, hosted a party in Washington two weeks ago to honor Trump and other high-level cabinet officials, including some who have expressed a desire to see Ellison in charge of CNN.

“The proposed merger does not occur in a vacuum,” the lawmakers wrote. “Decades of consolidation in this industry have already resulted in reduced output, higher prices, fewer choices, and less innovation, while merged studios face few consequences for breaking their pre-merger promises.”

Paramount representatives, who did not immediately comment Thursday, have previously defended the proposed takeover.

David Ellison has also promised to maintain the two studios’ current release schedules of 15 movies a year — for a total of 30 films a year — following the merger.

“This is also a moment when the industry has been facing significant disruption — and the need for strong, creative-first and well-capitalized companies that can continue to invest in storytelling has never been greater,” Paramount has said, adding that it will follow through on its commitments to ensure that “creators have more avenues for their work, not fewer.”

The Congress members’ letter also called into question the Trump administration’s oversight, alleging there has been “unprecedented politicization of antitrust enforcement.”

“Given that we cannot have confidence that the Trump administration review of the merger will be conducted according to the law, and with the best interests of American workers and consumers in mind, it is even more vital that you conduct a thorough, independent review,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to Bonta.

Federal regulators agreed to approve the Ellison family’s acquisition of Paramount last summer after Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit he brought over edits to a CBS “60 Minutes” interview with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris prior to the 2024 election.

The proposed merger would saddle the combined company with $79 billion in debt, stoking fears that Paramount would be forced to make steep cost cuts to balance such a large debt load. In the last three months, Paramount lined up banks and other institutional investors to provide bridge financing to help pull off the transaction, the company said.

The letter from Friedman and the others noted that the film industry in Los Angeles already is almost on the ropes. Last summer, on-location production in the Los Angeles area declined by 13%. More than 42,000 film industry jobs were lost between 2022 and 2024, a period that included two labor strikes.

David Ellison, the chairman and chief executive of Paramount Skydance, attended President Trump’s State of the Union address in February as a guest of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina).

(Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)

Friedman was joined by a group of prominent Democrats that includes Reps. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village) , Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and George Whitesides (D-Santa Clarita).

A large investor in Mattel is asking the toy maker to sell itself to a big investor and take its shares off the stock market.

Southeastern Asset Management, which oversees 4% of Mattel’s stock, said in a letter released Thursday that the company would be better off if owned by a private equity firm, a toy competitor or a media company.

Mattel stock price was $15.41 as of Friday morning, up 2% from closing on Thursday. Its shares have fallen more than 20% this year.

Southeastern said Mattel’s current strategy would make shareholders wait too long for the company’s stock price to reach $30.

“We do not want to wait longer for that to be realized,” Southeastern said in the letter, addressed to Mattel Chief Executive Ynon Kreiz. “We would prefer you lead the effort to explore strategic alternatives given your industry knowledge and relationships.”

Mattel said in a release Thursday that it appreciates and will consider the perspectives shared by Southeastern and other shareholders. The company said it will maintain its focus on squeezing more profit from the many famous toys and other intellectual properties it controls.

“Our Board of Directors and management team are committed to acting in the best interests of all Mattel shareholders,” the company said in the release.

Southeastern sent the open letter to Mattel’s board and other shareholders on Thursday. It was originally sent to Kreiz in mid-March, shortly before the company announced it was laying off 65 employees.

Mattel has laid off hundreds of employees in the past year and a half.

The company’s shares and profit took a dip after it announced weak holiday sales in 2025, in part due to disappointing Barbie sales.

Last year, its net sales were about $5.3 billion, down 1% from the year before.

Southeastern suggested three potential buyers.

Private equity firms, which have expressed interest in Mattel for years, could help provide financial stability, the shareholder said. If the company delisted, it wouldn’t have to worry about quarterly reports or annual expectations, Southeastern said.

Another toy company could also be a potential buyer, the shareholder said, noting that Mattel and Hasbro have been in talks for years.

“We believe synergies between the two companies would be material, creating a stronger player in a global industry,” Southeastern said.

Mattel also has valuable intellectual property that could interest large media companies, Southeastern said.

The three buyer options aren’t mutually exclusive and could be combined, the shareholder said.

“We are grateful for your leadership that stabilized the business during a difficult period,” Southeastern said in the letter. “We believe that now is the time for the company to explore strategic alternatives.”