Netflix-Warner Bros. $83 Billion Deal Challenged by Consumer (1)

Streaming service platform Netflix Inc. was sued in federal court by a consumer seeking to halt its proposed $82.7 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., arguing the deal will lessen competition in the US subscription video-on-demand market.

The proposed deal would “massively increase concentration in an already calcified and oligopolistic market—a market that has responded to past consolidation with aggressive marketwide price hikes and quality degradation,” according to a proposed class action filed Monday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

The suit was brought under the Clayton Act, which prohibits mergers that lessen competition and gives private individuals the right to sue. It seeks a court injunction blocking the deal.

Netflix Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. announced Dec. 5 they entered a definitive agreement for Netflix to acquire WBD.

President Donald Trump has already raised concerns about the deal, which would combine Netflix’s streaming service with Warner Bros.’ film and TV studios, HBO Max and HBO.

Rival Paramount Skydance Corp. has also launched a hostile bid for WBD.

“We believe this suit is meritless and is merely an attempt by the plaintiffs bar to leverage all the attention on the deal,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. WBD isn’t named as a defendant.

In the complaint, plaintiff Michelle Fendelander, a resident of Las Vegas and subscriber to WBD’s HBO Max, claims she and other consumers “will bear the brunt of this decreased competition, paying increased prices and receiving degraded and diminished services for their money.”

The complaint also says that if WBD is removed as an independent competitor, “Netflix would face less pressure to maintain affordable pricing or high-quality content.”

Fendelander seeks to represent a class of HBO Max subscribers, including individuals and businesses.

The plaintiffs are represented by Bathaee Dunne LLP.

The case is Fendelander v. Netflix, Inc., N.D. Cal., No. 5:25-cv-10521, complaint 12/8/25.