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Inside the Matrix Lawsuit: AT&T Lights One Last Legal Fire

The suit represents more than just the implosion of a 25-year financial partnership. It could also dramatically reconfigure the relationship between studios and their partners in the streaming age.

The Matrix
Photo: Courtesy of WarnerMedia
Matthew Belloni
February 11, 2022

When a particularly explosive lawsuit is filed, entertainment attorneys love to forward it around to friends and colleagues to discuss. Back in my own lawyering days, I remember the chatter when Metallica dropped a bomb on Napster, and when producer Bob Yari sued for a credit on the Oscar winner Crash. So many Hollywood disputes are hashed out confidentially that when a big one hits the public docket, everyone wants to see what creative punches were thrown and how they might land. It’s litigation as a spectator sport; the nerdiest possible version of sitting ringside at a UFC fight.