Eisen, a lawyer who’s emerged as a sort of attorney general for the anti-Trump resistance, thought there was a path to stopping the merger, and saw an imperative to try. “Classically, one of the things that you see in a backsliding democracy is the autocrat’s favored cronies seizing oligarchal control of the media,” he said. That’s how things had played out in Russia, Turkey and Hungary, and now it seemed that the same dynamic was coming to America. What happened next, however, demonstrates the importance of not surrendering to authoritarianism prematurely.

In a phone call on the Supreme Court steps, Eisen drafted an open letter denouncing the merger and celebrating reports that state attorneys general were scrutinizing it, tacitly encouraging them to take Paramount to court. Some leading Hollywood figures, including J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Ben Stiller, signed on. A Times guest essay that Ruffalo helped write said, “Despite appearances, the end of this story hasn’t been written.” He was right: This month, buoyed by a growing movement, 12 Democratic attorneys general sued to stop Ellison’s Warner Brothers takeover, arguing that it violated antitrust law.

“Historically, it’s unusual for the states to take the lead on antitrust enforcement actions,” reported Variety. But the case was strong enough that last week, a California judge issued a temporary restraining order putting the merger on hold. And on Friday, Paramount, which had hoped to close the deal this month, agreed to postpone the merger until next June or the end of the trial, whichever comes first.

“I think it’s seismic,” the media reporter Oliver Darcy, founder of the influential newsletter Status, said of the delay. “And it certainly puts into question whether this deal will cross the finish line.”

Obviously, Ellison could still prevail. But at the very least, the delay is likely to cost him a lot of money. When Paramount was competing with Netflix to take over Warner Bros., it sweetened its offer with a so-called ticking fee, in which Paramount agreed to pay Warner Bros. shareholders about $7 million a day if the deal isn’t closed by Sept. 30. Should the deal drag on until next June, Paramount could be out almost $2 billion.