Warner Bros. Discovery has shot down several offers and a hostile bid from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance, but the CEO refuses to take no for an answer and has now filed a suit against the studio over its planned merger with Netflix. 

Ellison (pictured) announced the lawsuit in a memo published this morning, arguing that Paramount’s seemingly firm US$30-per-share all-cash offer remains superior to the US$82.7-billion deal that WBD signed with Netflix in December. Filed in the Delaware Chancery Court, the suit alleges that WBD failed multiple times to provide its shareholders with customary financial disclosures of how it valued the Netflix deal, how the debt is structured and how it decided that Paramount’s offer presents more risk to the business.

By using the courts to force WBD to disclose more detailed information about the Netflix transaction, Ellison seems to believe that the shareholders will be able to make a more informed decision and ultimately switch sides to preferring Paramount’s offer instead. 

“We remain perplexed that WBD never responded to our December 4 offer, never attempted to clarify or negotiate any of the terms in that proposal, nor traded markups of contracts with us,” Ellison says in the memo. “Even as we read WBD’s own narrative of its process, we are struck that there were few actual board meetings in the period leading up to the decision to accept an inferior transaction with Netflix.”

Ellison also warns that he could ignite a proxy battle for WBD’s assets, announcing in today’s memo that Paramount plans to nominate its own slate of directors for the company ahead of WBD’s next annual shareholder meeting in three weeks. If talks don’t resume before then, these proxies will propose an amendment to WBD’s bylaws requiring shareholders to approve the spinoff of the company’s networks arm from its studios and streaming business, instead of allowing the vote to happen in a special meeting. 

To make matters bleaker for Netflix, US President Donald Trump (an Ellison ally) signalled his disapproval of WBD selling to the streamer in a social media post yesterday—and his administration has been enthusiastic about blocking mergers that don’t align with its politics and goals.

“We do not undertake any of these actions lightly,” says Ellison. “Make no mistake, our goal remains to have constructive discussions with WBD’s board to reach an agreement that is in the best interests of WBD shareholders.”