The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that California and 11 states sued to block Paramount Skydance's $110-billion (U.S.) acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that a lawsuit filed in federal court in Oakland, Calif., may obstruct Paramount chief David Ellison's efforts to make his company a significant rival to Netflix and Walt Disney. The states argued the deal would harm theatres and television distributors, and that harm would trickle down to hurt consumers and workers. The states said in the lawsuit: "After this merger, for every dollar generated by wide-release theatrical films and basic cable channels in this country, the combined company will pocket more than a quarter. This merger, in short, would create a media behemoth." Paramount said the lawsuit misrepresents competition in the entertainment industry and distorts established antitrust law. Critics note that Paramount's political connections facilitated last month's clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice. Larry Ellison, father of Mr. Ellison and co-founder of Oracle, has ties with Donald Trump, a Republican. In contrast, the state attorneys general involved in the lawsuit are all Democrats.