Gavin Newsom spent months publicly pressuring California's attorney general to drop the Paramount antitrust lawsuit.
The lawsuit was dropped on Monday.
But Gavin Newsom is snapping at a reporter for asking if he pressured his own party’s Attorney General to kill the Paramount lawsuit.
Newsom's Own Words Sealed His Fate
Newsom told Axios he "didn't pressure anybody."
Then he immediately described exactly how he pressured everybody.
"I made the point. I've made it very publicly and consistently and been reported maybe two or three hundred different ways," he said – explaining that he, the mayor of Los Angeles, and gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra all publicly pushed Bonta to abandon the courtroom fight.
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That is the definition of pressure.
Every California Democrat above Bonta in the food chain lined up to publicly demand he stand down.
"This settlement is not a vote of support for this merger; it is not a blessing of the broader merger," Bonta said.
"I am always willing to come to the table for honest, good-faith negotiations, and when we can find a strong solution that protects competition and consumers, I’d rather resolve the case, the issue, in the boardroom instead of the courtroom," Bonta added. "That’s what happened here."
Paramount CEO David Ellison made it even simpler: settle or we move 30,000 Hollywood jobs out of California by October 1.
Newsom panicked.
He pushed Bonta to fold before the company could make good on the threat – and called it leadership when Bonta finally did.
The Left Is Eating Itself Alive
Elizabeth Warren didn't take it well.
In a formal Senate statement, Warren called the settlement a "disastrous outcome" – warning that it handed control of American news and entertainment to a single Trump-aligned conglomerate and left workers and consumers to pay the price.
Hollywood elites blasted Bonta as a coward.
CNN staffers are reportedly in open panic – terrified that Paramount chief David Ellison will end up with influence over their network once the merger closes.
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And the man who made all of this happen is on camera telling reporters he didn't make anything happen.
The irony doesn't stop there.
Last year, Newsom publicly called Paramount's settlement with President Trump "transactional" and lectured media companies not to "sell out."
A year later, he pressured his own AG to cut a deal with that same company.
Newsom just did exactly what he spent months condemning.
"It’s all left-wing virtue-signaling until economic reality slaps you in the face," Media Research Center Business associate editor Joseph Vazquez told Fox News Digital. "Governor Gavin Newsom knows that he’s essentially turned his state into a pariah for business, and Attorney General Bonta’s Marxist legal vendetta against the bourgeoisie involved in the Paramount/Warner deal was a perfect example of that. It was good antitrust fodder for the radical left for a time, until push came to shove."
What This Actually Tells You About 2028
Watch what Newsom does, not what he says.
He gave a speech about press freedom and media integrity.
Then he quietly pushed his AG to clear the path for the exact merger he'd been positioning himself as the last line of defense against.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2100672561574990242?s=20
Why?
Because Newsom wants to be president – and no California governor survives losing 30,000 Hollywood jobs three months before a gubernatorial handoff.
The principles lasted exactly as long as they were free.
The moment they cost him something, they were gone.
That's who Democrats are nominating in 2028 – a guy who lectures you about corporate sellouts while doing the selling.
Sources:
- Warner Todd Huston, "Watch: Gavin Newsom Snaps at Reporter Amid Blowback from Left-Wing Critics Accusing Him of Forcing Paramount Settlement," Breitbart, September 24, 2026.
- "Newsom Reportedly Pushes for Settlement in Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Suit," The Wall Street Journal / Northeast Times, August 2, 2026.
- "Paramount and Rob Bonta to Meet Monday Over Merger Lawsuit Settlement," The Wrap, September 2026.
- Elizabeth Warren, Senate Statement on Paramount-Warner Bros. Settlement, September 21, 2026.
- "California Gov. Gavin Newsom Says Paramount's Trump Settlement 'Seems Transactional,'" Variety, July 2025.
