CNN Aims to Dunk on Fox News in March Madness Promo Blitz (EXCLUSIVE)

dropped a gag order against her on March 21. Her lawyer, Parisis G.

Fox News has fired a producer who filed a lawsuit against the network in which she claimed that she was coached and coerced by the network’s lawyers to give misleading deposition testimony in the defense against Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox News cut ties with Abby Grossberg Friday, Variety has learned, after the booker and producer for such hosts as Tucker Carlson and Maria Bartiromo alleged in court filings earlier this week that she was coerced by executives into providing misleading testimony in the $1.6 billion defamation suit that Dominion Voting Systems has levied against the Fox Corp.-backed outlet. Grossberg, who had worked as a senior booking producer for Bartiromo and head of booking for Carlson, alleged in filings in Delaware Superior Court and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that Fox attorneys worked to “coach, manipulate, and coerce Ms. Grossberg to deliver shaded and/or incomplete answers during her sworn deposition testimony, which answers were clearly to her reputational detriment but greatly benefitted Fox News,” according to her Delaware lawsuit.

EXCLUSIVE: Noma Dumezweni (The Undoing), Gabby Beans (Succession) and Sarunas J. Jackson (Insecure) have joined the cast of the Apple TV+ limited series Presumed Innocent.

EXCLUSIVE: The Daily Show has been ticking along nicely with its phalanx of guest hosts including Chelsea Handler, Leslie Jones and Kal Penn.

Joe Goldberg’s story is coming to an end. Netflix has renewed You for a fifth season, which will be the the last chapter for the popular thriller from Warner Bros. Television and studio-based Berlanti Prods. Penn Badgley will be back, reprising his role as serial killer Joe (who could finally face justice), but there will be a behind-the-scenes change on the series, developed by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble based on the Alloy books by Caroline Kepnes.

Nick Cannon has a regret about parenthood — but it’s not what you’d expect.

appears to have a “Lou Dobbs problem.” Network attorneys also continued to underscore that real, still-viable concerns about Dominion machines exist.But on Wednesday, Murphy noted that a defamation claim needs to be brought “home to someone who’s directly involved” in decisions about what to publish or air. Davis – who has cautioned everyone not to make too much of his early inquiries – challenged that idea forthrightly:“Is Fox’s position that executives didn’t have the power to stop Lou Dobbs from doing something like that?” Davis asked.Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson seized upon the exchange Tuesday, highlighting an email from Rupert Murdoch expressing concern about the network’s positioning on the election.

Ethan Shanfeld Fifth Season, the production house behind “Severance,” “Tokyo Vice” and “80 for Brady,” is developing series based on Jean Kwok’s 2014 novel “Mambo in Chinatown,” as well as her upcoming book “The Leftover Woman,” which hits shelves later this year. According to its official description, “The Leftover Woman” is “an evocative family drama and riveting mystery about the ferocious pull of motherhood for two very different women.” Published by William Morrow, the novel will be released on Oct. 10, 2023. “Mambo in Chinatown,” which landed on various year-end lists in 2014, is “about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into the world of ballroom dancing.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Say goodbye to Rooster Teeth’s longstanding rebus-style logo of the rooster and the windup chattering teeth. The fandom and comedy entertainment company, a division of Warner Bros. Discovery, is turning 20 years old on April 1. To mark the two-decade milestone, Rooster Teeth is introducing new logos (pictured above) along with a new tagline: “Just Playing.” The new branding will be rolling out over the next several weeks. Last year, Rooster Teeth approached Austin-based creative agency Guerilla Suit to create a new visual brand identity that was “as dynamic, playful and unconventional” as the organization itself, said head of marketing Adam Bersin (who joined RT a year ago from Amazon Studios). “At the core of the strategy, it’s making people realize Rooster Teeth is a digital media company that brings together all of these different interests of our creators… with comedy being the backbone of it,” Bersin said.

passionately,” Tucker Carlson remains, publicly, one of Trump’s biggest media allies. So it comes as no surprise that the star of Fox News’ primetime lineup is very, very opposed to the idea of Donald Trump being arrested.But on Tuesday Carlson had a highly idiosyncratic hope for how Trump might be saved from legal accountability: Help from President Joe Biden. Now as a reminder, on Saturday, as part of a larger ALL CAPS rant on his Twitter clone, Truth Social, about various things that make him angry, Trump claimed that we would likely be arrested on Tuesday (today).

is asking $1.6 billion in damages – significant, but not a potential death-blow for the crown jewel of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire – for what it says are defamatory statements about its voting machines in multiple reports, guest segments and host commentary immediately following the 2020 election. Defamation cases hinge on “actual malice,” proof that the defendant intended harm – and Dominion has been pushing hard on that front in it pretrial efforts.Fox has maintained it was merely doing the news, and was protected by its framing of even the wildest election conspiracy theories as allegations and speculation.

Sophia Scorziello editor “Indian Matchmaking” Season 3 will premiere April 21 on Netflix, the streamer announced Tuesday. Mumbai’s matchmaker Sima Taparia returns to help single millennials around the world find love, employing decades-worth of experience and traditional methods. This season, Sima’s matchmaking touch will reach from New York to New Delhi, Miami to London, as well as clients both old and new.  “Indian Matchmaking” premiered its first season in July 2020. The show is executive produced by Aaron Saidman, Eli Holzman, Smriti Mundhra and J.C. Begley. Check out some first looks of season three below.  Also in today’s TV news:

Fathom Events and Warner Bros are teaming to re-release the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, bringing the blockbuster back to theaters in commemoration of its 20th anniversary.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor A producer for Fox News who has worked for Maria Batirormo and Tucker Carlson alleged in court filings Monday that she was coerced by executives into providing misleading testimony in the $1.6 billion defamation suit that Dominion Voting Systems has levied against the Fox Corp.-backed outlet. In filings made Monday Delaware Superior Court and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Abby Grossberg, who had worked as a senior booking producer for Bartiromo and head of booking for Tucker Carlson, alleged that Fox attorneys worked to “coach, manipulate, and coerce Ms. Grossberg to deliver shaded and/or incomplete answers during her sworn deposition testimony, which answers were clearly to her reputational detriment but greatly benefitted Fox News,” according to the Delaware lawsuit.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer HGTV is about to make Barbie fans’ dreams come true with the ultimate home-reno series based on everyone’s favorite doll: “Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge.” Premiering this summer, the Ashley Graham-hosted four-episode event is launching ahead of the July 21 release of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie as part of a giant cross-network promotion across Warner Bros. Discovery linear channels to support the much-anticipated Warner Bros. Pictures film. “Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge” will feature eight teams of HGTV superstars (and one Food Network star) as they transform a Southern California home into a real-life Barbie Dreamhouse, as supermodel Graham — who has her own Barbie modeled after her and will be driving a Barbie pink corvette on the show — hosts. The teams will overhaul areas of the home with an era-specific style, such as an early 1960s atomic age kitchen, a ‘70s disco vibe for Ken’s Den and a main bedroom decked out in ‘80s glam.

A Fox News producer claims that she was “coerced” and “intimidated” by the network’s legal team into providing misleading and evasive testimony in a deposition in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox News Media, known best for shows led by Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, is placing new emphasis on programming that relies more heavily on Kevin Costner, weather emergencies and Greg Gutfeld. In a meeting with advertisers slated to be held Tuesday, executives at the Fox Corp.-backed operation, will spotlight a growing array of lifestyle content, while continuing to nod to the political programming that draws some of its networks’ biggest audiences. Among the Fox News Media executives scheduled to be on hand were Suzanne Scott, the CEO, and Jay Wallace, president and executive editor. “If you take a look at our overall audience across all of Fox News Media, 40% comes from lifestyle – sports, weather, entertainment offerings,” says Jeff Collins, executive vice president of advertsing sales for Fox News Media. “We just want to reiterate to our clients the depth and breadth of this type of content that we have outside of just hard news.”

by the New York Times, Grossberg says she was coached in “a coercive and intimidating manner” by Fox News lawyers prior to giving testimony last September in the Dominion case. The network’s goal, she said, was to to position her and Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, who Grossberg worked for at the time, to take the blame for airing false conspiracy theories alleging Dominion somehow rigged the 2020 election.

Rupert Murdoch is officially engaged to former police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The Darnell Ferguson-hosted primetime competition “Superchef Grudge Match” has been renewed for Season 2 at Food Network. Production on the eight-episode second season is set to begin later this year, with new episodes scheduled to debut in early 2024. Hosted by “Tournament of Champions” alum Ferguson, “Superchef Grudge Match” seeks to settle two long-standing personal and professional food feuds in one-round, one-dish winner-takes-all heavyweight battles. Per Food Network’s official description: “The food world is filled with rivalries and on ‘Superchef Grudge Match,’ host Darnell Ferguson stages battles between chefs who have beefs with each other to finally bury the hatchet and win $10,000 cash, a prized knife from the losing chef and lifelong bragging rights over their food foe. From food competition rivalries and business partner squabbles to mentor vs. protégé grudges, sparks fly in and out of the kitchen in this one-hour series.”

Rupert Murdoch is engaged, again.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Rupert Murdoch just can’t stay single. Less than a year after divorcing Jerry Hall, the 92-year-old Fox mogul is hearing wedding bells again. He’s engaged to Ann Lesley Smith, a 66-year-old San Francisco police chaplain. According to gossip columnist Cindy Adams, who broke the story in the New York Post, Murdoch’s future wife was married to Chester Smith, a country-western singer, as well as a radio and TV executive who died in 2008. Adams reports that the two bonded over their shared knowledge of the media business as well as the fact that she once owned a vineyard and he still does. If they tie the knot, it will be Murdoch’s fifth marriage. Hall, a model and actress, was married to Murdoch for six years. In addition to Hall, Murdoch was previously married to Wendi Deng from 1999 to 2013; Anna Maria Torv from 1967 to 1999; and Patricia Booker, from 1956 to 1967.

It looked like a good week for Fox News on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver today as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and uncertainty in the financial world replaced the searing revelations resulting from Dominion Voting’s lawsuit against the Rupert Murdoch-owned cable newser on the HBO series.

you say it than me,” Wallace began, only for Cox to quickly jump in with his “Succession” character’s infamous signature line, “F— off.”“I kinda hoped that before this interview is over you’ll say it to me,” Wallace responded slyly.Check out their conversation in the video at the top.Ahead of the final season of the HBO drama series, which premieres March 26, Wallace also pressed Cox on his strong feelings that the Roy family is not based on media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his family, which Cox confirmed, saying, “I reject it entirely.”“But as someone who spent 18 years working at Fox, I’m gonna put up the scene which I think cuts a little close to the bone on that subject,” Wallace shot back before playing a clip of a heated interaction between Logan Roy (Cox) and his son, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), in which the father and son wrestle with where morals intersect with business, if they do at all. “You don’t hear any echoes of the Murdochs there?” Wallace asked.“Well,” Cox responded, “there’s the echo of anybody who is in that position, a position where they’re running an empire … the big difference between Murdoch and Logan is Logan created his empire [while] Murdoch’s Empire was already in place, and he just took it forward.”“You mean he inherited it from … his father,” Wallace interjected.Cox continued on by exploring his rigid character’s humanity, noting that while Kendall might say his father is evil due to his own bias or view, Logan doesn’t believe he has malicious intentions.“I think that Logan is, in many ways, saying ‘these are my rules, and these are what I do,’ but there’s also, again, the mystery element is where is Logan coming from?” Cox said.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery received stock upgrades from two media analyst firms Friday for, among other things, making the decision to tie bonuses for CEO David Zaslav and his team to free cash flow performance. “We threw everything and the kitchen sink at a Downside Case scenario for WBD, and it still delevers to 3x by ’25E,” Wells Fargo analysts wrote in a research note published Friday, in which they upgraded WBD’s stock to “overweight” with a price target increase from $13 to $20 per share. “We now have conviction in FCF to limit downside, while the stock has asymmetric upside.” Meanwhile, Wolfe Research moved WBD from its “peer perform” rating to “outperform” and also upped the price target to $20. (At time of publication Friday, WBD stock was trading at $14.51 per share.)

EXCLUSIVE: FBoy Island, the breakout HBO Max reality format, is getting another date.

EXCLUSIVE: Once again, All Rise is facing a possible cancellation. The cast of the courtroom drama series, led by Simone Missick, has been released by producing studio Warner Bros. Television.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Hispanic has partnered with GroupM and Cocina Media on “El Toque de Aarón.” The all-new original seriesfollows celebrity chef Aarón Sánchez and his team as they help Latino restaurants in the Los Angeles area reach new heights. Kimberly Clark’s VivaÒ Paper Towels Brand will be an integrated sponsor, with other GroupM clients featured throughout the series. Sánchez will also act as an executive producer. The six-part series unfolds in Latino restaurants with great potential, ready to seize the opportunity to optimize their business – from devising a more exciting menu to improving the overall aesthetics to streamlining their execution and raising their public profile. Sánchez will help reimagine these restaurants to bring out their true soul, with a revamped menu and a refreshed space. In each 30-minute episode, the culinary wizard will put his personal touch on each menu item, while mentoring each restaurant’s chef and sharing tips and tricks of the trade along the way. Helping to round out the renewals with much-needed renovations are designer Cris Mercado (“HGTV Star; Remodelaciones con Celebridades“) and project manager Ángel Riveros (“Hogar Star”). Complicating matters is the fact that they have only four days to achieve this mission. The clock is ticking.

EXCLUSIVE: Illumination/Universal/Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros Movie just landed on tracking this morning ahead of its Easter weekend release, and the animated film is shaping up to make at least $85M-$90M+ over its Wednesday through Sunday launch and that’s on the conservative side.

, ensuring that LA remains the capital of the global entertainment industry,” the splash site for the project stated.The studio has a rich history. Born out of the 20th Century Fox backlot, it’s seen productions from “Miracle of 34th Street” to “The Sound of Music” to “The Simpsons,” the longest running primetime series ever, now in season 34.

the Rodney Dangerfield of world leaders,” but Tucker Carlson inadvertently defended the president Wednesday night after pinning the South Carolina senator as a peddler of “anti-American stupidity.” And it all goes back to Russia.The takedown began Tuesday when Graham, speaking on “Hannity,” shared how he thinks the United States, specifically President Joe Biden, should respond after a Russian jet reportedly collided with a U.S. drone and sent it crashing down into the Black Sea. “We should hold them accountable, and say that if you ever get near another U.S.

Fox Corp. is planning a major building overhaul and expansion of its Century City lot including nine new soundstages as well as a media campus, office space and focus on related transportation infrastructure.

Fox News Channel viewers are less trusting of the cable network in the wake of publicly disclosed text messages and emails from Fox executives and on-air personalities, according to a new survey.  But only 9% of Fox News viewers say they aren’t watching the network as much as they used to, per research provided exclusively to Variety Intelligence Platform by consumer insights specialists Maru Group. (Click to an expanded subscriber version for full results.) A representative for Fox News told VIP+, “There has been no impact to advertising, with no advertisers dropping or pausing.” 

Magnolia Pictures has released the official trailer for “Little Richard: I Am Everything,” Lisa Cortés’ latest documentary, which focuses on the iconic rock n’ roll musician Richard “Little Richard” Penniman. The film explores how Little Richard and the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll founded the whitewashed canon of American pop music. The documentary follows how Richard contributed and created a self-expressive art form for musicians that ultimately would shape the music industry throughout the following decades. “Little Richard: I Am Everything,” interview subjects include the musician’s family, Black and queer scholars and celebrity subjects including Billy Porter, Mick Jagger, Sir Lady Java, John Waters, Nile Rodgers and many more.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter has set a June 16 date for the official opening. Tickets go on sale beginning March 22.