Rob Bonta canceled a meeting with Paramount. Called it bad faith. Paramount showed up ready to negotiate and got stood up by the state's top lawyer.
The AG's office scheduled the meeting. Sent calendar invites. Probably had someone book a conference room. Then Bonta decided actually no, you people don't negotiate in good faith, meeting's off. This is like agreeing to a first date, letting her drive to the restaurant, then texting "you seem shallow" from your couch.
Paramount's lawyers billed six hours preparing for a meeting that lasted zero seconds. Some associate stayed up until 2am formatting settlement offer bullet points that will never leave the printer. The firm charged $18,000 for work product that now sits in a manila folder labeled "Meeting That Didn't Happen Because Rob Got His Feelings Hurt."
Good faith. That's the phrase Bonta went with. Like he's shocked a corporation tried to minimize its legal exposure. What did he expect, Paramount to walk in and say "you're right, we've been very bad, here's everything we own"? The AG wanted them to negotiate against themselves before the negotiation. Bold strategy.
Retail traders saw this headline and immediately started googling "does this affect Disney stock?" Wrong company, wrong sector, wrong everything. They're looking at Paramount's chart wondering why there's no pump. Because it's a private legal matter with no material impact, Kevin. Your $340 in fractional shares is safe.
Bonta will reschedule eventually. They always do. He'll get his meeting after both sides waste another month posturing through press releases. Paramount will pay a fine that sounds big in headlines but rounds to zero on their balance sheet. The AG will call it a victory. Everyone goes home. This is how serious people spend their time.
Meanwhile some compliance officer at Paramount just got told his Q3 is f*cked because the state's chief lawyer wanted to make a point about manners.
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