| | | | | | What's news: Two new lawsuits allege Sean Combs sexually assaulted young boys. A Trump surrogate was booted off a CNN show and banned from the network after making a racist comment aimed at Mehdi Hasan. Armie Hammer is launching a podcast. Netflix has added a new social media clips feature. Samsung TV Plus has 88m active users. China's Oscar entry has been deemed ineligible. — Abid Rahman
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Bezos: "Presidential Endorsements Do Nothing" ►"Most people believe the media is biased." The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos wrote in an op-ed on Monday that the paper’s choice to cease presidential endorsements was borne from an attempt to regain the trust of its readers. “Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election,” Bezos wrote. “What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence.” Post CEO Will Lewis announced in a memo on Thursday that the paper would not endorse a candidate for president — the first time since 1988 — and will cease to do so for future elections. Since then, the Post has seen a mass exodus of subscribers, with 200,000 gone by Monday, NPR reported. The story.
—"It’s disappointing, no doubt." Kamala Harris said the decisions by the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post to not endorse a presidential candidate were “disappointing,” while alluding to Trump’s ties to billionaires. In an interview on Charlamagne tha God’s The Breakfast Club, Harris appeared to speak to the ownership of the Post, by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and of the LAT by the biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong. “It’s billionaires in Donald Trump’s club. That’s who’s in his club. That’s who he hangs out with, that’s who he cares about," Harris said. The story.
—"We are neutral in political matters." A rep for Madison Square Garden has responded to criticism following a Trump rally held at the New York arena on Sunday night, where several racist insults were made. An MSG Entertainment spokesperson told THR on Monday: "We rent to either side. We don’t censor artists, performers or speakers." The event has been criticized in part for lewd and racist comments made by stand-up comedian Tony Hinchcliffe about Latinos, Jews and Black people, all of whom are key constituencies in the election, which is just a little over a week away. The story.
—“I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.” CNN‘s NewsNight descended into chaos and acrimony on Monday night after Trump surrogate Ryan Girdusky directed a shocking racist and Islamophobic attack on fellow panel guest Mehdi Hasan. During a discussion about Trump’s now infamous MSG rally, the panel got heated and Girdusky made a racist quip that implied Hasan was a terrorist. Gidursky was promptly booted off the show, and CNN later said he would not be welcomed back on the network. The story. |
Who the Stars Call When They Really Need a Lawyer ►Deaths! Divorces! DUIs! If you’re lucky, you’ll never need to call anybody on this list. But if you ever do find yourself in a tight spot, these are the lawyers you’ll want on your side. They’re The Troubleshooters, Hollywood’s top legal fixers (even if some of them are based in New York, Atlanta or Las Vegas). The list.
—New lawsuits. Sean “Diddy” Combs is accused in one of two lawsuits filed Monday of drugging and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in a New York City hotel room in 2005. The second lawsuit accuses the jailed hip-hop mogul of similarly assaulting a 17-year-old would-be contestant on the reality television series Making the Band in 2008. The lawsuits filed in state Supreme Court in New York are the latest in a wave of lawsuits in which accusers allege they were sexually assaulted by Combs at parties and meetings over the last two decades. The story.
—Assault claim. An anonymous Chris Brown assault accuser claims the rap star drugged and raped her on Sean “Diddy” Combs’ yacht in December 2020. The allegation was made in Investigation Discovery’s Chris Brown: A History of Violence that premiered Sunday night on the true-crime network. The documentary explored Brown’s years of alleged offstage aggression, including intimate-partner violence, assault charges and sexual assault allegations that first came to light in 2009 when the star rapper pled guilty to a felony charge of physically assaulting former girlfriend Rihanna. The story.
—Trial delay. French film star Gérard Depardieu will not attend his trial on charges of sexual assault, starting in Paris this week, and has requested a postponement, citing health concerns. Depardieu was scheduled to appear in court for the trial, set to kick off in Paris on Monday. Two women have accused the Green Card actor of sexual assault related to alleged events on the set of the film The Green Shutters in 2021. Depardieu’s lawyer Jérémie Assous said Monday that his client had been advised by his doctors against attending the hearing in person for health reasons. The story.
—"Some of you are going to love this and some of you are going to f***ing hate it." Armie Hammer, the onetime A-list actor whose career came tumbling down around him amid a number of #MeToo accusations, is stepping back into the public sphere with a new podcast. The Armie HammerTime Podcast will feature a rotation of guests, each of whom “know one thing that you don’t.” Hammer will engage the guests in longform conversations in which they “teach me what that thing is.” More intriguing, however, is the notion that the podcast will serve as a personal diary, offering insights into his inner thinking amid one of the most spectacular downfalls in Hollywood history. The story. |
Netflix Adds New Social Media Clips Feature ►Sharing is caring. Netflix may have cracked down on password sharing, but the company is now embracing clip sharing as it launches a new brand campaign. The streamer is launching a new product feature called “Moments,” which will allow users to quickly save their favorite moments from Netflix series and films. Users can then rewatch those moments at a glance, or share them to platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, with just a click. When a user shares a clip on another platform, anyone who follows them can click their post and immediately be taken to that scene in their own Netflix app. The story.
—Officially a major player in streaming. Samsung is for the first time releasing user data on its free ad-supported streaming service Samsung TV Plus, disclosing that the FAST service now has 88m monthly active users, and is the number one app on Samsung TVs in the U.S. The South Korean tech giant, it should be noted, is the best-selling TV brand in the country, and Samsung TV Plus is baked into every device. For comparison, the three biggest players in free, ad-supported streaming are Roku Channel, Tubi, and Pluto, and all have MAUs in and around that 80-90m area, according to disclosures from the companies. The story.
—All in on tech. THR's Alex Weprin has the scoop that Fox News is planning a barrage of high-tech features for its election night coverage. With tens of millions of people tuning in for election coverage on Nov. 5, every network is pulling out all the stops when it comes to technology, and figuring out creative ways to display data, close races, and other returns on election day. Fox News, which is the most-watched cable news channel in the country by a wide margin, is no exception. Among the enhancements is an even more tech-infused “Bill”-board, the interactive segment with Bill Hemmer digging into exit polls and voting results. The story.
—Off to the races. Screenwriter Peter Craig, who co-wrote the upcoming Gladiator II, and producer Bryan Unkeless, known for such fare as I, Tonya and Project Power, have teamed up to launch film and television production banner Night Owl. The outfit isn't starting from scratch, however, and comes armed with a TV deal and a range of projects including Tropical Underworld, a crime drama series set in Hawaii and based on a Bloomberg article written by Chris Pomorski, that was sold in a competitive bidding war to Fifth Season. There's also an adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt’s wildly popular novel Remarkably Bright Creatures, which is set up at Netflix, with Where the Crawdads Sing filmmaker Olivia Newman attached to direct. The story.
—Another one. NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist Anthony Davis is launching production banner Jakm3n Productions, looking to work on projects across the film, TV and gaming spaces. Jakm3n has set key executives in Arik Burks and Keith Chamberlain as COO and CAO, respectively. The company has also announced that it will co-finance and co-produce Toonz Media Group’s animated feature Pierre the Pigeon-Hawk. Tara Whitaker and John D. Eraklis will direct Pierre the Pigeon-Hawk from a script written by Ciaran Crampton. The story. |
Jon Stewart Extends 'Daily Show' Run Through 2025 ►Sticking around. Jon Stewart isn’t quite ready to let go of his weekly Daily Show gig. Comedy Central announced Monday that Stewart has signed an extension that will keep him as a once-a-week host and full-time executive producer of The Daily Show through December 2025. The news comes just over nine months after Stewart made a deal to return to the show he hosted from 1998-2015. That initial deal had Stewart hosting the show once a week (usually Monday nights) through the presidential election. With Election Day looming (and Stewart set to host a live, hour-long special on Nov. 5), the extension will keep Stewart on The Daily Show through the first year of the next president’s term. The story.
—Team in place. The principal creative team behind the strongly-rated and Emmy-winning 96th Oscars telecast — minus its host, Jimmy Kimmel, and his personal producer and wife, Molly McNearney — are returning for the 97th Oscars telecast, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday. For the Sunday, March 2, 2025 broadcast on ABC, Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan will be back as executive producers — Kapoor will also be showrunner — and Hamish Hamilton will once again serve as director. The story.
—Ohtanimania. Japan has been baseball-obsessed for generations, but Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani's first World Series is powering the game to unseen levels of popularity in the country. The second game of the World Series between the Dodgers and the New York Yankees attracted an average of 15.9m viewers in Japan, around 12 percent of the population. The U.S. actually slipped below Japan for the first time as the second-biggest TV market for baseball during the game. About 13.8m viewers in the U.S. watched the game, according to data released Monday by Major League Baseball and Fox Corp.’s sports division. The ratings.
—Don’t have a Cowboy, man. Disney, the NFL and ESPN and teaming up to debut another animated alternative broadcast of an upcoming NFL game, but this time they are going big with ESPN’s The Simpsons Funday Football. On Dec. 9, Disney+ and ESPN+ will stream the Dallas Cowboys-Cincinnati Bengals matchup, but it will take place in Springfield’s Atoms Stadium, with all the players replaced by dozens of animated characters based on those from the Fox and Disney+ series The Simpsons. The story.
—🎭 Jinx found 🎭 Apple TV+‘s forthcoming Margo’s Got Money Troubles is adding to its already star-studded cast. Nick Offerman has joined the series from A24 and showrunner David E. Kelley. The Parks and Recreation favorite will star opposite Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman and Michelle Pfeiffer in the drama. Based on the best-selling novel by Rufi Thorpe, Margo’s Got Money Troubles follows the title character (played by Fanning), who is “the daughter of a Hooters waitress and former pro wrestler.” Offerman will play Jinx, Margo’s dad; Pfeiffer plays her mother. The story.
—Streaming rivalry. America now has a choice, when it comes to behind-the-scenes access to royals on their streaming platforms. In a notable acquisition, Disney+ has picked up Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, a two-part documentary in which the Prince of Wales launches his Royal Foundation’s Homewards program, which seeks to end homelessness in the U.K. It will debut on Disney+ Nov. 1. Prince Harry, of course, has moved to the U.S., where he lives with his wife, Meghan Markle. The duo have a film and TV output deal with Netflix, where they have been featured in a docuseries, and produce other programming. The story. |
Depp, Cruz Reteam for Action Thriller 'Day Drinker' ►🎭 Comeback continues 🎭 THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz reteaming for Day Drinker, a thriller that Marc Webb will direct for Lionsgate. The company launches international sales on the title this week at AFM. It marks Depp’s most high-profile attempt to mount a Hollywood comeback following the many controversies that arose from his messy divorce from actress Amber Heard. The actor in recent years starred in the French period drama Jeanne du Barry last year and directed the period indie Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness that just played at the Rome Film Festival, but those were not commercial plays and were made with European backers. The story.
—No dice. THR's Scott Feinberg has the scoop that The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru, a documentary feature that China submitted as its entry for the best international feature Oscar competition, has been deemed ineligible for that award. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said that the film failed to meet their minimum language requirement for the award — a film must have “a predominantly (more than 50 percent) non-English dialogue track” to be eligible, per Academy rules — and that because Lisbon Maru was submitted just before the Oct. 2 submission deadline, it was too late, once this issue was discovered, for China to submit a different film. The story.
—🎭 One more 🎭 William H. Macy has joined the ever-growing cast of The Running Man, Paramount’s adaptation of the Stephen King story from director Edgar Wright. Glen Powell tops the call sheet that also includes names such as Josh Brolin, Katy O’Brian, Lee Pace, Michael Cera and CODA star Emilia Jones. The feature is due to start shooting next week in London, with Paramount releasing the film on Nov. 21, 2025. Simon Kinberg, Nira Park and Wright are producing. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Sony Pictures announced that Jumanji 3 is set to hit theaters Dec. 11, 2026. Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan starred in the first two films and are expected to return, as is director Jake Kasdan, who helmed both features. Johnson, Kasdan, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia and Matt Tolmach are producers on the movie that will screen in IMAX and premium large format. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle hit theaters in December 2017 and surpassed $950m at the global box office. A sequel followed in 2019 and topped $801m globally. The story. |
Film Review: 'Juror #2' ►"A worthy addition to a storied career." For THR, Justin Lowe reviews Clint Eastwood's Juror #2. The AFI Fest premiere stars Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Kiefer Sutherland and Zoey Deutch in the story of a writer who finds the details of a murder case to hit disturbingly close to home. The review.
—"A clichéd mess suffering from an identity crisis." THR India's Anupama Chopra reviews Shashanka Chaturvedi's Do Patti. Written by Kanika Dhillon, the India-set mystery centers on a cop investigating an case about warring twin sisters and the man they both love. The review.
In other news...
—Queer trailer: Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey develop a connection in Mexico City
—Love Is Blind: The Reunion trailer teases dicey meet-up of S7 cast
—Boy Band doc Larger Than Life featuring NSYNC, Backstreet Boys releases trailer and premiere date
—Brian Cox suits up as Santa Claus in Richard Curtis’ animated That Christmas trailer
—Colman Domingo gets paranoid in trailer for Netflix thriller The Madness
—Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Hamm in fiery Landman trailer
—Ted Danson is A Man on the Inside in trailer for Mike Schur’s Netflix comedy
—Jeremy Allen White is The Boss in first photo released from Bruce Springsteen biopic
—Jon M. Chu to receive American Cinema Editors’ Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award
What else we're reading...
—Meredith Lee Hill, Mia McCarthy and Holly Otterbein report that Trump’s Puerto Rico fallout is "spreading like wildfire" in Pennsylvania [Politico]
—Ben Smith and Max Tani analyze the Washington Post's future in the midst of a subscriber exodus [Semafor]
—Matt Stevens reports on the mysterious "Ketamine Queen" at the center of the Matthew Perry case [NYT]
—Bilge Ebiri posits that The Insider, even 20 years later, was Michael Mann’s greatest prophecy [Vulture]
—With the return of Wolf Hall fast approaching, Xan Brooks goes inside the making of the second series of the Mark Rylance historical drama [Guardian]
Today...
...in 2004, Universal unveiled Ray Charles biopic Ray in theaters, where it would go on to gross $124m globally. The film earned six nominations at the 77th Academy Awards, winning in the sound mixing category as well as the best actor category for Jamie Foxx’s performance. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Winona Ryder (53), Richard Dreyfuss (77), Gabrielle Union (52), Michael Schur (49), Dan Castellaneta (67), Tracee Ellis Ross (52), Rufus Sewell (57), Ben Foster (44), Italia Ricci (38), Jodi Balfour (38), India Eisley (31), Janet Montgomery (39), Maria Sten (35), Jon Abrahams (47), Cleopatra Coleman (37), Chelan Simmons (42), Brendan Fehr (47), Milena Govich (48), Farrah Mackenzie (19), Joely Fisher (57), Andrew Lee Potts (45), Aksel Hennie (49), Carlson Young (34), Finola Hughes (65), Derek Theler (38), Jed Brophy (61), Daniel Feuerriegel (43), Christopher Wiehl (54), Cherilyn Wilson (36) |
| | Paul Morrissey, a cult film director and early Andy Warhol collaborator, died Monday. He was 86. The obituary. |
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