SAG-AFTRA Board Adopts Resolution Opposing Paramount-WBD Deal But Stops Short Of Joining WGA Lawsuit - Deadline

What the report says

Deadline reports that SAG-AFTRA’s National Board has adopted a resolution opposing Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery unless the companies agree to specific production safeguards. The actors union did not join the Writers Guild of America’s lawsuit seeking to block the deal, but its action formally records support for legal challenges brought by the WGA and by a coalition of state attorneys general.

According to Deadline, SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said the union is focused on protecting members and other industry workers from potential reductions in studio production. The resolution calls for enforceable protections, including guarantees tied to increased shares of productions made in the United States. The union said it had reviewed the matter through meetings with attorneys, guild leaders, studio executives and the Department of Justice before taking its position.

The merger has already received approval from the Trump administration’s DOJ and from several international regulators, including the European Union with film-distribution concessions, while a UK decision remains pending. Deadline reports the transaction is now paused after California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general sued on antitrust grounds and obtained a temporary restraining order. Paramount has agreed to proceed directly to trial rather than first litigating a preliminary injunction request.

The development matters because SAG-AFTRA is one of Hollywood’s most influential labor groups, and its opposition adds pressure around a consolidation proposal that could reshape production, employment and bargaining dynamics across film and television. For now, the union is taking a public and political stance rather than becoming a plaintiff in court.