Paramount is threatening to leave California unless the state attorney general agrees to settle a lawsuit that is blocking its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. CEO David Ellison has warned that the company could move out of the state if Attorney General Rob Bonta does not agree to negotiations. Bonta, who leads a coalition of 12 states in the antitrust case, dismissed the threat as blackmail and said it would not work. He also noted that Paramount had already agreed to pause the merger until a court reviews the matter. Paramount's chief legal officer, Makan Delrahim, said at a Politico conference on Tuesday that all options remain open for settling the lawsuit, and that leaving California is a possibility but not blackmail. The merger has been stalled by the legal challenge.