AT&T, Discovery Stocks Fall 5% on News WarnerMedia Deal Will Be a Spinoff

Euphoria rose to new highs with the dramatic and messy season 2 finale, drawing in 6.6 million viewers across all HBO platforms.

Black History Month, we have put together a round-up of some of the podcasts that are on our radar and in our ears. These podcasts and their hosts -- ranging from 's Yvonne Orji and MSNBC's Joy-Ann Reid, to Chad Ochocinco and many more -- tap into the Black experience in many ways. Whether they’re examining the latest news in pop culture, making us lead healthier lives, making us talk, or most importantly, just making us listen, scroll through to find out more about our favorite podcasts!- Kid Fury and Crissle give their weekly hot takes on pop culture, Black culture and Beyoncé.

Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur are celebrating 's historic Screen Actors Guild Award wins.ET's Nischelle Turner spoke to the pair ahead of the cast taking home awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and Kotsur nabbing Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Sunday night, about what the film's SAG recognition will mean for deaf performers.«It's really exciting for many of us in our community to be represented in the most Hollywood way possible, but it's been a long time, representation has been a struggle for us, especially hiring deaf actors, directors and beyond,» Matlin told ET. «So,  is here, and we have three deaf actors carrying the film authentically, authentic deaf actors, and you can't ask for anything better than that.»As for Kotsur's nomination, Matlin believes it will pave the way for more deaf actors to come.«I'm delighted for Troy.

Ned Eisenberg was a character actor best known for his role as defense attorney Roger Kressler on “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.”  Ned Eisenberg was a Bronx born character actor who played defense attorney Roger Kessler in 24 episodes of the long-running crime drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” He appeared in two Clint Eastwood movies, playing a manager in “Million Dollar Baby” and photographer Joe Rosenthal in “Flags of our Fathers.” He made his movie debut in 1980 in “The Exterminator” and appeared in “Primary Colors” and “Last Man Standing.” His many TV guest appearances include “The Good Wife,” “White Collar,” “30 Rock,” and recently on “Mare of Easttown” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”  RIP #NedEisenberg. We worked together on one of the first films I ever did: “Moving Violations.” Just a great all-around good guy.

Leo Reed, former longtime secretary-treasurer of Hollywood’s Teamsters Local 399, has died. He was 83. Reed, a former pro football player, served as Local 399’s top officer for 25 years, and as the head of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ Motion Picture & Theatrical Trades Division for 20 years. The cause of death was not disclosed by his family.

to TMZ on Monday.“As Ned would say, he was attacked by two very rare assassins — cholangiocarcinoma [bile duct cancer] and ocular melanoma. Over the course of two years, he bravely fought the cancers in private while continuing to work in show business to ensure that his medical coverage paid for himself and his family,” Patricia told the news outlet.His rep Jeremy Leiner announced that he died Sunday at his home in New York.Eisenberg is best known for portraying defense lawyer Roger Kressler in “Law & Order” (1997 to 2009) and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (1999 to 2019) and most recently played Detective Hauser in the 2021 HBO series “Mare of Easttown.”The prolific actor was born and raised in New York City and studied acting at Fiorello H.

System Of A Down drummer John Dolmayan has said that the COVID-19 pandemic “has always been about money”.Dolmayan has previously been vocal about vaccine mandates and has received criticism for his views on the Black Lives Matter movement, his support for Donald Trump and has stated that people won’t work with him now because of his views.In February last year, he called Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “a moron” in an interview, where he also explained that he’s not a fan of “the agenda of a lot of the Democratic platforms”.Yesterday (February 27), Dolmayan took to his Instagram to share a Pokémon-related COVID-19 meme, writing: “And just like that covid will slowly go away. This is and has always been about money , covid was about money , Ukraine is about money.

Chucky has been slated for release later this year.Don Mancini, the creator of the Child’s Play franchise which the series is a spin-off from, shared a teaser poster for the forthcoming season, confirming it will be released in 2022.The first season premiered in the UK last December, with no specific date for the new episodes confirmed just yet. Take a look at the teaser poster here:pic.twitter.com/8kuwUSyZt6— Don Mancini (@RealDonMancini) February 26, 2022The TV series serves as a sequel to Cult Of Chucky, when 14-year-old Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur) buys a Good Guy doll at a yard sale, only to discover it’s possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif).It also serialises Child’s Play, which Mancini wrote along with the other six films in the franchise (except for the 2019 reboot).

The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang has teased what fans can expect in next week’s episode.After recapping the events of ‘New Haunts’ with Entertainment Weekly, Kang opened up about what will be explored in next Sunday’s (March 6) ‘Rogue Element’.“We are going to get deeper into the story of the Commonwealth,” Kang said of the forthcoming storyline. “And one character we didn’t really check in with here is Eugene [Josh McDermitt], and we’re going to be following Eugene’s story really strongly in [season 11, episode 11].”She went on: “Michael Cudlitz came back to direct this and did an amazing job.

J.Lo is turning in the microphone for a pencil! The star has announced her latest project, and it is unlike any she has ever done.MORE: Jennifer Lopez to receive the 2022 iHeartRadio Icon AwardThe Marry Me actress is paying homage to her Latinx roots with her latest career venture, a bilingual children's book.WATCH: J.Lo dazzles in figure-hugging jumpsuitMORE: Jennifer Lopez shares heartfelt tribute to rarely-seen twins amid major family milestoneJ.Lo collaborated on the adorable and meaningful project with none other than late night television host Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy announced the sweet news through a post on Instagram with a heartfelt caption detailing how long it's been since they've wanted to do this. The book is currently available for pre-order and is officially released in October.

Haim have revealed that they are releasing a new track tomorrow (February 28).On Instagram today (February 28), the trio revealed that they had a line written for a song for the last year – “I’ll never get back what I lost track of” – but that they “could never figure out what to do with it.” They added: “We kept writing it down, not knowing where it should live.”The trio then went on to say that when filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson did a “director’s cut” issue for W Magazine, with youngest sister Alana on the cover, “an opportunity arose to do a quick music component while shooting the story.”Anderson’s new film, Licorice Pizza, stars Alana in her acting debut and is a coming-of-age drama set in the 1970s in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, focusing on Haim’s character, Alana Kane, and Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman).The post goes onto explain that the trio recorded a new song for the cover shoot, using the line they had written over a year ago.A post shared by HAIM (@haimtheband)They explained: “Paul mentioned having the book Appointment in Samarra as a possible direction [for the cover]. So we did some digging around the book and were inspired by the scene where the main character throws a drink in someone’s face at a country club.“We were inspired by the idea of someone doing something so drastic to get out of a situation they felt uncomfortable in – just to feel something.“We finally remembered that lyric and wrote and recorded the song and shot the whole thing in a few days! Anyway, felt fun to do something very collaborative/off the cuff.”The new song will arrive tomorrow (March 1), according to the post, which you can see above.

Dominic Fike has confirmed he will return as Elliot in Euphoria season three.The actor and musician, who joined the HBO show for season two, shared the news on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, following the season two finale.Fallon asked Fike whether he was set to return as Elliot in the next season, to which he replied, “Absolutely.”Fike also addressed a fan theory claiming that Elliot could be Nate Jacobs’ brother.“I’m not even gonna lie, I saw this one online, and I looked at it for a while and there was so many things connecting and so many people were talking about it all through these Reddit threads, and at the end of it I was like, ‘Am I Nate’s brother?'” he said.Watch the full interview here:Meanwhile, this season of Euphoria has led to a rise in young people seeking help for addiction problems, according to the UK Addiction Treatment Group (UKAT).According to UKAT’s head consultant Nuno Albuquerque, since the show was released there has been a small rise in young people seeking help for addiction.“What shows like Euphoria do is to raise the awareness of young people and children experiencing and in some cases, struggling with mature life situations like drug misuse,” Albuquerque told Metro.co.uk. “Thankfully there has been a very small rise in the number of young people getting in touch with our support services asking for help and guidance.”He added: “It’s naive of society to believe that our younger generation don’t use and abuse substances, or to think that we can always protect them.

Tinie Tempah is launching his own fried chicken delivery service.The service, called ‘Raps’, will begin with a four-month pop-up at Willows on the Roof, which is located at the top of John Lewis on Oxford Street, London.The food will also be available via Deliveroo in areas including Shoreditch, Hackney, Dalston, Brixton, Queen’s Park and Camberwell from March 11.In a statement, Tempah said: “Raps just felt right.

Måneskin have said that they are unable to share any updates on their postponed EU tour dates with fans while the ongoing conflict in Ukraine continues.Ukraine officially severed diplomatic ties with Russia and declared martial law after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack on the neighbouring nation last week (February 24).Måneskin have said that they are unable to offer fans any updates on their upcoming tour dates during this “moment of tension.” Back in January, the band were forced to postpone their upcoming European tour dates due to venue capacity issues amid the ongoing COVID pandemic.On social media, the 2021 Italian Eurovision winners wrote: “Despite our desire to give you updates regarding the European and Italian tour by March the 1st, we are not able to define and share the new dates in this moment of tension for Europe and for the whole world. We are closer that ever to all the people plagued by war right now.”Despite our desire to give you updates regarding the European and Italian tour by March the 1st, we are not able to define and share the new dates in this moment of tension for Europe and for the whole world.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterBill Lawrence is staying put at Warner Bros. Television, with the TV writer and producer inking a massive five-year deal sources value at nine figures, Variety has confirmed.WBTV would not comment on the financial terms of the deal.

Bill Lawrence, the top comedy showrunner at the moment amid the enormous critical and commercial success of Ted Lasso, is staying put at Warner Bros. TV Group through 2028. After lengthy negotiations, Emmy winner Lawrence, who had a little time left on his current overall pact at the studio, has closed a blockbuster new five-year deal for his Doozer production company, I have learned. Noone is commenting but sources value the pact at more than $100 million, catapulting Lawrence in the very top tear of TV showrunners.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDiscovery investors will be asked to approve the $43 billion deal to combine with WarnerMedia, which AT&T is spinning off, at a March 11 virtual meeting.Discovery announced the date in a letter to shareholders, which it disclosed in an SEC filing Thursday. On that same day, AT&T has scheduled a virtual investor conference where the company said it will provide “additional insight and expectations for financial and operational performance of AT&T’s Communications segment” following the close of the WarnerMedia transaction.The pact cleared a major hurdle this week after U.S.

Discovery has set March 11 as the date of a special shareholder meeting to hold a vote on the company’s proposed merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAT&T and Discovery have gained clearance for their much-anticipated deal to spin off WarnerMedia so it can merge with Discovery, a deal that has already been approved in Europe. The approval of Discovery shareholders is the last barrier to the deal moving forward.The companies disclosed the matter in two different filings Wednesday with the U.S.

The pending merger between AT&T’s WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. has received approval from U.S.

The merger of AT&T’s WarnerMedia and Discovery has cleared U.S. regulators, the companies announced Wed.,  in the last major hurdle for the $43-billion deal.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAustralian streaming service Stan has renewed its exclusive content partnership with Hollywood studio MGM. The deal covers series and film titles.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNow in the home stretch of unloading WarnerMedia, AT&T chief John Stankey appears to be primarily interested in not destroying any more value for shareholders than the telco giant already has with its ill-fated M&A strategy.This week, AT&T announced that the WarnerMedia divestiture will be structured as a spinoff ahead of its combo with Discovery. That will give telco shareholders pro-rata shares in the newly created Warner Bros.

AT&T shares are down in pre-market trading after the telecom giant said it will spin off WarnerMedia as part of the entertainment unit’s pending $43 billion merger with Discovery.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAT&T announced that its board has decided to spin off the telco’s interest in WarnerMedia — rather than structure the media conglom’s divestiture as a split-off.The transaction will spin off 100% of AT&T’s interest in WarnerMedia to AT&T’s existing shareholders in a pro-rata distribution, followed by the merger of WarnerMedia with Discovery to form a new company, “Warner Bros. Discovery.” The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022; previously, AT&T had targeted “mid-2022” for the close.Last week, on AT&T’s Q4 earnings call, CEO John Stankey had left said the board was still on the fence about whether to spin off WarnerMedia (and give AT&T shareholders pro-rata shares in the new Warner Bros.

Lionsgate’s feature take of Judy Blume’s classic Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret has been scheduled for Sept. 16 this year.

The CW’s flagship DC series, The Flash, is headed to a ninth season. Star Grant Gustin is finalizing a new contract to return as the title character in the hit show, from Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, sources said.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWarnerMedia has made three more senior content hires in Asia to bolster its original productions teams in advance of the launch of HBO Max in the region.In the Singapore-based team, Mark Francis has been appointed group lead of production and development (scripted and unscripted) and Wee Shi Ming has been named lead of entertainment content acquisition for North Asia content. They both report into Magdalene Ew, WarnerMedia’s head of content – entertainment for Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.In Mumbai, Saugata Mukherjee joins WarnerMedia as head of content – entertainment, India.

Yahoo Finance. On Wednesday, AT&T reported adjusted EPS of 78 cents on $41 billion in revenue.“A year and a half ago, we began simplifying our business to reposition AT&T for growth and we’re extremely pleased with how we’ve executed on that commitment,” said John Stankey, AT&T CEO.