All writers

Todd Spangler

variety.com
30
articles (90 days)

Recent articles

Taylor Swift Song ‘August’ Removed From Trump TikTok Video
A TikTok video that included Taylor Swift’s song “August” posted four days ago to the account for Donald Trump’s campaign has had the sound removed. The caption on the now Taylor-less “Team Trump” ...
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Trump Nominates FCC Lawyer Danielle Thumann, an Adviser to Chairman Brendan Carr, to Serve as Commissioner
President Donald Trump on Friday nominated Danielle Thumann, who currently serves as senior counsel to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, to serve as an agency commissioner. If she’s confirmed, it would gi...
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Don Lemon Wants Criminal Charges Against Him Related to Minnesota ICE Protest Tossed, Citing Donald Trump’s Chronic ‘Animus’ Toward Journalist
Don Lemon asked a federal judge to dismiss criminal civil-rights charges against him related to his presence as a protest earlier this year at an anti-ICE protest in Minnesota. In a filing Friday, ...
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Lionsgate CEO Wants to See Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Close Soon: ‘Uncertainty and Delay’ Are ‘Not Good for Anybody’
Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer voiced support for the stalled Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which is headed to an antitrust trial to begin in March 2027. While Lionsgate competes with Para...
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Starz Revenue Declines 4% in Q2 as Streaming Stabilizes, Company Takes $147 Million Charge Related to Ending Universal Output Deal
Starz saw total revenue slide again in the second quarter of 2026 — but the media company reported its first year-over-year growth in streaming revenue in 18 months. Company execs believe the busin...
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‘Michael’ Boosts Lionsgate Quarterly Results as Studio Narrows Loss to $29 Million
Shamone! Record-breaking biopic “Michael” helped Lionsgate’s movie division turn in a profit of $105 million — its best-ever result for a June quarter. Lionsgate’s Motion Picture segment revenue of...
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SiriusXM Taps Paramount Pictures and Universal Alum Jenny Tartikoff as Head of Communications
SiriusXM hired Jenny Tartikoff, who formerly led communications for Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures, as senior vice president and head of communications for the satellite radio and podcas...
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Zaslav Admits Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Saga Has Been ‘Challenging’ for Employees but Claims Work Ethic Is ‘Inspiring’
What’s the mood among the Warner Bros. Discovery rank and file amid the pending Paramount takeover? Some WBD execs have privately expressed hope the antitrust case brought by 12 states, with a tria...
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What Is David Ellison’s Breaking Point?
David Ellison and the leadership team at Paramount expected to spend much of the summer settling into new digs with Warner Bros. Discovery. A few weeks ago, they privately predicted the merger of t...
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ABC News Digital Workers Unionize With WGA East in Unanimous Vote
Employees at ABC News’ digital division voted unanimously to form a union with the Writers Guild of America East. WGA East — which has repped unionized employees in ABC News’ TV operations for deca...
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Judge Sets Paramount-Warner Bros. Antitrust Trial for March 2027
The judge hearing the antitrust case seeking to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger has issued a preliminary scheduling order, with a trial set to start in March 2027 — considerably l...
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UFC Lost $30 Million on White House Fight on Donald Trump’s Birthday
Ari Emanuel, TKO Group’s executive chairman and CEO, called the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House “a roaring success.” But the company said it lost $30 million on the elaborately staged extr...
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Joe Budden Is Launching a True-Crime Podcast With Wolf Entertainment, Advance Local and Headline Studio
Joe Budden, the widely followed independent podcaster and cultural commentator, is launching his first foray into true-crime storytelling. Budden, host of “The Joe Budden Podcast,” is gearing up fo...
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David Ellison Says Opposition to Paramount-Warner Bros. Is Over His Control of CNN, Claims He Will Not ‘Bend Newsrooms to My Views’
Paramount CEO David Ellison said he believes the antitrust litigation filed by 12 states and the Writers Guild of America isn’t about market share but about “whether I can be trusted as a steward o...
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Spotify Notches 300 Million Premium Subscribers
Spotify’s Premium customers grew to 300 million in the second quarter of 2026, after the music streamer gained 7 million paying subscribers, exceeding its previous guidance. Total monthly active us...
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Disney’s ABC Asks FCC to Reject Petitions to Deny TV License Renewals, Says Agency Is Taking ‘Punitive’ Action Against Broadcasters Trump Dislikes
Disney’s ABC urged the FCC to toss out petitions calling for the agency to deny the renewal of broadcast licenses for ABC’s eight owned-and-operated TV stations, and they reiterated the assertion t...
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Meta Takes $2.4 Billion Charge for Legal Proceedings in Q2, Revenue Booms 28% to Over $60 Billion
Meta continues to post soaring revenue, but the Mark Zuckerberg-led company took a big hit in the second quarter of 2026 related to legal proceedings and layoffs. The company, the parent of Faceboo...
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Starz and Crunchyroll Team for Discounted Bundle on Amazon’s Prime Video
Starz and Sony’s Crunchyroll are rolling out a new bundle now available through Prime Video in the U.S. priced at $16.99/month for the pair of streamers — more than 23% off compared with buying the...
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Ari Emanuel Blasts States’ ‘Trash’ Lawsuit Aimed at Blocking Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger, Claims It Threatens to ‘Destroy’ Competition
Hollywood powerbroker Ari Emanuel rallied to the defense of his friend and business associate David Ellison, claiming that the state attorneys general trying to block Paramount’s Warner Bros. Disco...
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FCC Slammed by Former Agency Officials Over Review of ABC’s Licenses: ‘An Assault on Free Speech Disguised as Regulatory Process’
The FCC and its current chairman, Brendan Carr, were blasted by former heads of the agency and other officials as pursuing a campaign to “censor Disney’s and ABC’s speech” with its highly unusual e...
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ABC News Launches ‘20/20 True Crime+’ Subscriptions on Apple Podcasts, Sets New Series on Luigi Mangione and McStay Family Murders
ABC News is going after true-crime superfans with the launch of the “20/20 True Crime+” subscription tier on Apple Podcasts. The new podcast subscription, available as of Tuesday (July 28), provide...
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BuzzFeed Laying Off 35% of Its Employees After Byron Allen Takes Over Company
BuzzFeed is slashing its workforce on the heels of the digital media company’s deal to sell a controlling ownership stake to entrepreneur and comedian Byron Allen. The company disclosed that it is ...
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Some Warner Bros. Execs Are Hoping States’ Antitrust Lawsuit Derails Paramount Deal
Privately, some top executives at Warner Bros. Discovery are rooting for the 12 states that have sued to block Paramount Skydance’s WBD takeover to win in court and get the megadeal nixed. What’s o...
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David Ellison Addresses Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Delay Amid State AGs’ Lawsuit in Staff Memo: ‘The Facts and the Law Are on Our Side’
Paramount CEO David Ellison, in a companywide memo, sought to project confidence that his $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery will — eventually — cross the finish line. On Friday, Param...
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Peacock to Be Included in YouTube Premium Subscription Bundle Starting in 2027
NBCUniversal is hoping Peacock will catch a huge updraft from a new bundling pact with Google’s YouTube. Under a new multiyear agreement between NBCUniversal and YouTube, Peacock Premium (which inc...
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Trump Says White House Correspondents Dinner Is ‘Largest Group of Trump Derangement Syndrome People Ever Put Together at One Time’
President Donald Trump attended his first-ever White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, with this year’s rescheduled gala held Friday evening in Washington, D.C., and delivered some pointed ...
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Paramount Faces Drawn-Out Battle With State AGs: ‘They Saw the Writing on the Wall’
Only a few days ago, the states’ antitrust challenge to the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger still looked like a speed bump. Now, it looks more like siege warfare — as Paramount has agreed to put the ...
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Warner Bros. Discovery Sues Amazon, Accusing It of ‘Lawless Employee Shopping Spree’ Including Poaching HBO Veteran Pia Barlow
Warner Bros. Discovery sued Amazon, alleging the internet giant engaged in an “illegal” campaign of “inducing contracted employees” of WBD to “breach their employment agreements” — including HBO ma...
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Fired ‘60 Minutes’ Correspondent Says She Was Pushed to Report on Events ‘That Never Happened’ Under Bari Weiss’ Leadership at CBS News
Cecilia Vega, who was fired as a correspondent from CBS News’ “60 Minutes” as part of a major shake-up three months ago, is speaking out about her experience at the TV newsmagazine under Bari Weiss...
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The Paramount-Warner Bros. Clock Is Ticking: What’s Next for the Megamerger Amid Antitrust Battle With States?
David Ellison may have believed Paramount Skydance could have closed the $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by this point. The deal was blessed by the Justice Department in June (repor...
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