Paramount Skydance agreed to a longer-term delay of its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, preventing the companies from combining until after a judge rules on the merits of a case in which a dozen states challenged the legality of the merger.

Under a stipulation filed in court today, the states and companies agreed that the merger will not be completed and the firms will not integrate their operations until "five days after the merits determination in these matters," or on June 1, 2027, whichever is earlier. The delay was also agreed to by the Writers Guild of America, which filed its own lawsuit to block the merger. If there is no merits determination by June 1, the plaintiffs could seek a preliminary injunction to keep blocking the deal.

The agreement amounts to "a months-long halt" to the merger, New York Attorney General Letitia James' office said. “Halting this merger while our case proceeds is a critical victory in our efforts to uphold the law and protect the film and television industries," James said.

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The rich and famous who filed into the Kennedy Center’s opera house in December were there to enjoy one of the nation’s most exclusive celebrations of the performing arts: the center’s annual honors gala.

The black-tie event, hosted by President Donald Trump, prioritized tickets to people who donated more than $75,000 to the center. This year, it feted Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone, the legendary glam rock band Kiss and the Grammy Award-winning disco pioneer Gloria Gaynor.

Among the attendees that evening were two lower-profile government officials whose regulatory decisions had been crucial to the future of the gala’s broadcast sponsor, CBS, and its parent company, Paramount.

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A group of 12 states led by California sued Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery today in an attempt to block a $111 billion merger that was greenlit by the Trump administration last month.

"The unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the US," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said.

The merger would combine two of the largest movie studios and merge streaming service Paramount+ with HBO Max. Netflix previously had a deal to buy WBD's streaming and movie studios businesses, but Paramount succeeded in a hostile takeover bid helped along by support from the Trump administration.

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