Recent articles
July 16, 2026
‘Today’ Show Intruder Arrested After Allegedly Lunging at Craig Melvin and Yelling Racial Slur
In a frightening moment Thursday morning, a man broke through security at the “Today” show set at Rockefeller Center and was arrested after he lunged at co-host Craig Melvin and shouted the N-word,...
variety.com
July 15, 2026
David and Larry Ellison Sued by Paramount Investor Alleging ‘Illegal’ Side Deal With Donald Trump to Secure U.S. Approval for Warner Bros. Takeover
Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison and his tech billionaire dad Larry Ellison have been sued by a Paramount shareholder who alleged they cut an “illegal” deal with President Donald Trump to sec...
variety.com
July 14, 2026
How Strong Is the Democratic State AGs’ Lawsuit Aiming to Block Paramount’s Warner Bros. Takeover?
A group of 12 Democratic state attorneys general is suing to block Paramount Skydance’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery — arguing the transaction violates antitrust law by giving the combined co...
variety.com
July 14, 2026
WGA Sues to Block Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger, Alleging Writers Will Be Paid Less and Have Fewer Opportunities if Deal Goes Through
The Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East filed a lawsuit seeking to block Paramount Skydance’s proposed $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, alleging it viola...
variety.com
July 14, 2026
Radio Host Elvis Duran Launches Video Podcast Venture Podrophenia With Paul Heyman, MCM Studios for Creator-Led Shows (EXCLUSIVE)
Elvis Duran, one of terrestrial radio’s biggest talk-show hosts, has formed a new partnership to develop, produce and monetize creators’ video podcasts — providing what he claims are Hollywood-leve...
variety.com
July 13, 2026
David Zaslav Sells $59 Million More in Warner Bros. Discovery Stock
As Paramount Skydance’s deal to take over Warner Bros. Discovery is still pending, WBD CEO David Zaslav is continuing to cash out his stock in the company he is set to depart in the coming months. ...
variety.com
July 13, 2026
NowThis Hires Georgie Guinane as Head of L.A. Studio
NowThis, the digital-first and social news outlet that targets Gen Z audiences, has hired producer Georgie Guinane as head of studio, L.A. In the new role, Guinane will lead NowThis’ Los Angeles st...
variety.com
July 13, 2026
Paramount Blasts States’ Lawsuit Aimed at Blocking Warner Bros. Deal, Claims Litigation Will ‘Shield’ Netflix and Tech Companies From ‘Much-Needed Competition’
Paramount Skydance sharply criticized a coalition of 12 Democratic state attorneys general that sued to block the David Ellison-led company’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The lawsuit filed b...
variety.com
July 13, 2026
Rhett & Link’s Mythical Promotes Jacob Moncrief to President, Who Takes Over for Brian Flanagan
Mythical, the entertainment company founded by top YouTube creators and talk-show hosts Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal, promoted Jacob Moncrief to president, overseeing all aspects of the business....
variety.com
July 10, 2026
Netflix in Talks to Buy Letterboxd: Report
Could Letterboxd, the popular film-review social network, end up in the clutches of Netflix or another big entertainment corporation? Letterboxd, founded in 2011, has been shopping itself to intere...
variety.com
July 9, 2026
Alisa Bowen Exits as Disney+ President to Become CEO of Disney-Controlled Fubo TV Streamer
Alisa Bowen, who has served as president of Disney+ since September 2022, is leaving that role to become CEO of Fubo, the internet TV streaming service that is majority-owned by Disney. Fubo announ...
variety.com
July 9, 2026
Netflix Inks Exclusive Deal for Video Episodes of Vox Media Podcasts ‘Unexplainable,’ ‘Switched on Pop’
Netflix is still signing checks to fill out its growing podcast lineup. The streamer’s latest pact is with the Vox Media Podcast Network, now owned by James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems, for exclusive ri...
variety.com
July 8, 2026
Meredith Hayden Lands Netflix Deal for ‘Wishbone Kitchen’ Video Podcast (EXCLUSIVE)
Meredith Hayden is cooking up her own show for Netflix, in another instance of the streamer turning to internet creators to produce original programming. Hayden is a former New York City private ch...
variety.com
July 8, 2026
Michael Strahan and Constance Schwartz-Morini’s SMAC Productions to Launch Podcast Network, Featuring a Show They’re Co-Hosting
SMAC Productions, the entertainment and content studio founded by “Good Morning America” co-anchor and NFL star Michael Strahan and his longtime business partner Constance Schwartz-Morini, is divin...
variety.com
July 8, 2026
‘Freakonomics’ Creator Stephen Dubner Is Launching a Talk Show With Guests at His New York City Home: ‘People Are Much Hungrier for Substance Than the Conventional Wisdom Says’
Stephen Dubner, the journalist, podcaster and bestselling author behind the Freakonomics franchise, is getting in front of the camera with a self-financed TV-style talk show. Dubner, host of the “F...
variety.com
July 7, 2026
Togethxr Launching ‘Everyone Watches Women’s Sports’ Weekly Podcast With iHeartMedia
Women’s sports have never been bigger. Now Togethxr, the sports media company co-founded by veteran exec Jessica Robertson alongside pro athletes Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, Simone Manuel and Sue Bird,...
variety.com
July 2, 2026
‘Doctor’ Donald Trump Posts AI Video Dragging Rosie O’Donnell, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert De Niro and More for Suffering From ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’
Heading into the July 4 long weekend, President Donald Trump shared a late-night social media post slamming some his biggest celebrity critics as suffering from the imaginary “Trump Derangement Syn...
variety.com
July 1, 2026
Trump Received $10.7 Million Fee for Amazon’s ‘Melania’ Documentary
President Donald Trump reported a $10.71 million licensing fee for “Melania,” the Amazon MGM Studios documentary about the First Lady, as income on his 2025 financial disclosure report. Amazon MGM ...
variety.com
June 30, 2026
Would Netflix Make a Play for NBCUniversal Post Spin-Off? Why That’s Unlikely to Happen
Over an intense six-week period last fall, Netflix went from an initial phone call between co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav to sealing an $82.7 billion deal to buy ...
variety.com
June 30, 2026
Does California Attorney General Want to Force Paramount to Sell Off CNN? Rob Bonta Claims ‘I Have No Idea’ Where That Speculation ‘Comes From’
David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance is hoping to close its megamerger with Warner Bros. Discovery within the next several months — but there are still a few roadblocks remaining. One of those is a p...
variety.com
June 29, 2026
NBCU’s Peacock Limited-Ads Tier Launches on YouTube Primetime Channels
Now you can subscribe to Peacock through YouTube to get a slew of entertainment and sports from NBC, Bravo, Telemundo and more, directly through the YouTube app. Peacock’s Premium Plus tier, priced...
variety.com
June 29, 2026
Comcast Bosses Say NBCU-Cable Separation ‘Absolutely Not’ Designed to Pursue M&A Deals; ‘We’ve Now Simply Changed Our Mind’ That the Businesses Are Better Together
More than 15 years ago, Comcast took its first steps toward taking over NBCUniversal. Now it’s unwinding the media business from the broadband and TV pipes, planning to spin off NBCU and Sky into a...
variety.com
June 29, 2026
Comcast to Split NBCUniversal and Cable Operations Into Two Companies
Comcast, just months after shedding most of its cable TV business into Versant Media, is now again cleaving itself into two separate companies: one housing its namesake cable and tech operations, a...
variety.com
June 26, 2026
‘Strictly Business’ at Cannes Lions: Deloitte, AWS and Sony Pictures Entertainment Execs on Getting Your ‘Hands Dirty’ With New Tech Like AI: ‘Start Tackling Hard Problems’
When it comes to deploying daunting new technologies like AI, leaders in media, sports and entertainment shouldn’t be afraid to do hard things. That was a key takeaway from the Variety “Strictly Bu...
variety.com
June 26, 2026
Cannes Lions: Marketing Execs From Fox, BBC, Mattel and More Talk About Piloting Their Brands Into the Future
Day 3 of the Variety in the C-Suite in collaboration with Canva featured more lively discussion on the beach from marketing pros in entertainment and other industries — with a common thread of how ...
variety.com
June 26, 2026
Cannes Lions Entertainment Awards: Adidas Takes Home Grand Prix for Oasis ‘Original Forever’ Collaboration
The 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity recognized the best creative campaigns across entertainment, design and craft categories. Sports apparel and footwear maker Adidas’ tie-up...
variety.com
June 22, 2026
Apple’s Eddy Cue on ‘F1’ Sequel, Why Apple TV Has Never Licensed Any Library Content and Being Inspired by Steve Jobs
Apple hasn’t officially greenlit a sequel to last year’s blockbuster “F1: The Movie,” but Eddy Cue — who oversees the tech giant’s entertainment businesses — said one will “hopefully” be coming, in...
variety.com
June 22, 2026
Amazon Signs Wide-Ranging Deal With Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s Boardroom Spanning Podcasts, Live Events and More
Amazon’s Wondery is aiming to amplify the game of Boardroom, the media company founded by NBA champion Kevin Durant and his business partner Rich Kleiman, under a wide-ranging deal. Under the agree...
variety.com
June 19, 2026
Democratic Senators Urge FCC to Block Closing of Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Until Review of Deal’s Foreign Investment Concludes
Three Democratic U.S. senators are urging the FCC to prevent Paramount Skydance from closing its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery until the government’s national security review of t...
variety.com
June 18, 2026
HBO Max Cuts One-Year Subscription Prices 28% in Limited-Time Offer Ahead of ‘House of Dragon’ Season 3 — and Before Paramount Merger
HBO Max has long offered a discount if you pay upfront for a year of service. Now the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned service is dangling an even bigger price break in a new summer promo. Starting Thu...
variety.com