Paramount's Former Distribution Chief Chris Aronson Sues Over $1.3 Million Severance Dispute

Chris Aronson, who ran domestic distribution — the United States and Canada release operation — at Paramount, has filed a lawsuit accusing the studio of shorting him $1.3 million on his severance payout after firing him last year.

The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Paramount wrongfully terminated Aronson and then invoked a provision limiting his severance to two years rather than paying out the full contract he had signed, according to Variety. Aronson is seeking roughly $4 million in economic damages plus punitive damages.

Aronson's departure traces back to the Skydance merger with Paramount, the corporate combination that brought David Ellison in to reshape the studio. On 29 September 2025, weeks after the deal closed, Aronson was told in a meeting he was being let go "without cause" and would be fully paid out on his contract. His departure became effective 1 December 2025, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter reported. He was one of several executives to exit as Ellison overhauled the studio's leadership.

The timing made the firing especially sharp. Shortly before the Skydance deal closed, Aronson had signed a contract extension that would have kept him at Paramount through December 2028. A consulting arrangement was floated at the time of his ouster, the complaint says, but never materialised.

The dispute centres on how Paramount calculated his severance. After Aronson left, his lawyers flagged a clause in the company's severance agreement that capped payouts at two years. Paramount took the position that this cap applied, leaving Aronson $1.3 million short of a full payout. Aronson's lawyers argue the studio is misreading an IRS provision that governs the timing of severance payments, not the total amount owed.

Aronson, then 69, also alleges age discrimination. His suit claims he was replaced by a much younger executive and that workers aged 55 and above made up a disproportionate share of recent layoffs at Paramount. The studio hired Shaun Barber, a top distribution executive from Lionsgate, to take on Aronson's role.

Aronson had joined Paramount in 2019 after a long career at Fox that ended when Disney absorbed that studio. As head of domestic distribution, he oversaw the theatrical rollouts of Top Gun: Maverick and installments in the Mission: Impossible, A Quiet Place, and Sonic the Hedgehog franchises — the films that fill cinemas and, when they hit, keep the projection booths running and the popcorn warm.

There was a wry footnote to his tenure. At CinemaCon in April 2024, Paramount CEO Brian Robbins joked from the stage that Aronson had a Kickstarter to buy the studio as the Skydance deal loomed, Deadline reported. The audience laughed. The lawsuit is no joke.

Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment.