Has Hollywood Made Any Progress Toward Pay Parity?

XTR, the global nonfiction entertainment studio behind the Oscar-nominated documentary “Ascension,” has hired Abazar Khayami as head of studio. Khayami, who previously served as head of content at NTWRK, will oversee feature documentaries including development, production and execution and shepherd the dozens of films already in the company’s pipeline, the studio said Wednesday.“We are thrilled that Abazar has come on to lead XTR’s production studio during a moment of tremendous growth for the company,” said Kathryn Everett, XTR co-founder and head of film.

Luke Bryan enjoys a close and often hilarious relationship with his American Idol co-judges Lionel Richie and Katy Perry.MORE: Luke Bryan's five children and their mothers – and the heartfelt story behind his family unitIn a new interview with Good Morning America, the country superstar opened up about his relationship with Katy in the run-up to her Las Vegas residency and how that extended to her fiancé Orlando Bloom.WATCH: Chayce Beckham wins American Idol 2021"Anything Katy does, she sends stuff to create more anxiety," he said to the amusement of GMA hosts Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, who could be heard laughing in the background."She's like 'Wow. Big stage, be ready','Wow, get ready for the dry air of Las Vegas', I'm like 'Katy!'" he joked.MORE: Katy Perry reveals wedding news after claims she secretly wed Orlando BloomHowever, he revealed that there was nothing but love between the two, perhaps veering on being closer than you'd expect when Orlando comes into the mix."Me and her, even as years have gone, we have an even more fun friendship and a great working relationship," he gushed about the Firework singer.A post shared by Good Morning America (@goodmorningamerica)Luke joked about Katy being "jealous" of his relationship with Orlando BloomHe then added: "She's really a little jealous because she believes Orlando kind of…might have a little man crush on me. "Because Orlando came to Nashville and I had all these outdoor activities planned for him.

Nadya Suleman, a.k.a. “Octomom,” celebrated her octuplets’ 13th birthday this week. The proud mom took her eight youngest children — Nariyah, Isaiah, Maliyah, Jeremiah, Noah, Josiah, Jonah, and Makai — to a bowling alley, and then to a park, in Laguna Niguel, California to celebrate them reaching the milestone birthday. Photos, which can be seen HERE, show Nadya and the octuplets gathered together and smiling while holding bowling balls at the first celebratory event. The eight kids are truly so grown up — it’s crazy that they are now teenagers!

Better Things,” its original comedy series created by, executive produced by and starring Pamela Adlon.Adlon stars as Sam, a working actress raising three daughters in Los Angeles attempting to navigate her life and find fulfillment. Mikey Madison, Hannah Alligood and Olivia Edward portray Sam’s daughter, who are each struggling to come of age, while Celia Imrie portrays Sam’s mother, who deals with increasingly difficult mental and physical health issues. Adlon heavily based the series on her own experiences as an actor raising three daughters.The trailer for the new season sees Sam working on a new movie, giving a presentation to an elementary school class and arguing with her daughters.

Miles Davis for a year in 1968, died today (February 9) of natural causes, close friend Danielle Maggio confirmed to Rolling Stone.Davis’ self-titled debut album arrived in 1973, which she then followed up the following year with ‘They Say I’m Different’. Her third and final studio album, ‘Nasty Gal’, was released in 1975.Though not commercially successful at their time of release, Davis’ music has gone on to be hugely influential in funk circles in the decades to follow.Born Betty Mabry, she appeared on the cover of Miles Davis’ 1968 album ‘Filles de Kilimanjaro’, and was the inspiration behind his song ‘Mademoiselle Mabry’.“RIP Betty Davis, the original (and only) nasty gal, famed for being one of music’s greatest muses, but more importantly, one of the funkiest to ever do it,” journalist and author Jeff Weiss wrote in tribute to Davis.“Her first 3 solo records are sleazy, soulful and raw.

Spotify streams of Little Simz‘ music have soared over 350 per cent following her appearance at this year’s BRIT Awards.The rapper, who released her last album, ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’, back in September, won the award for Best New Artist at last night’s (February 8) ceremony at London’s The O2. She also performed a medley of her tracks ‘Introvert’ and ‘Woman’.Her massive night has since prompted a huge spike in Spotify streams in comparison to other BRITs winners including Adele, Silk Sonic, Ed Sheeran, Dave and Sam Fender.There was a 812 per cent increase in streams of ‘Introvert’ and a 594 per cent spike for ‘Woman’, equating to a 365 per cent jump overall.Elsewhere, Adele, who took home three BRITs last night (Artist Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year), saw a 137 per cent increase in Spotify streams following the awards, while Dave’s streams went up by 217 per cent. Fender’s music saw a 79 per cent jump.“As ever, the BRITs showed the incredible breadth of talent being fostered here in the UK, across every genre of music,” Tom Connaughton, managing director of Spotify UK and Ireland, said in a statement (via Rolling Stone UK).

Families of the 22 who died in the Manchester Arena bombing have reacted with anger and dismay after a second act of vandalism at a memorial for their lost loved ones.

Former Manchester City and England striker Trevor Sinclair has compared Manchester United youngster James Garner with club icon David Beckham.

A taxi driver was taken to hospital with a head injury after he was attacked in a back street in Cheetham Hill on Tuesday evening.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorHollywood is about to stampede into Middle Earth. An array of movie, merchandising, gaming and live event rights to “Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit” and other titles from author J.R.R. Tolkien are coming up for auction now that the Saul Zaentz Co.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorLifetime’s newest reality show, “Leave It To Geege,” sees Geege Taylor, a single mom and breast cancer survivor, on a mission to help other people on their journey of raising an autistic child.The show debuted on Lifetime in January and from Feb. 10 will be transitioning from linear to digital, starting with a two-episode drop followed by weekly episodes rolling out on mylifetime.com, the Lifetime app and VOD.Taylor, whose 19-year-old son Pootie was diagnosed with autism as a young child, says she had first wanted to open her doors to TV cameras over seven years ago.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSteve Yockey, the creator and co-showrunner of HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant,” has developed a new dark comedy series that has gotten a script to series order at Fox.The single-camera project is titled “Cindy Snow.” The series follows the title character, who is the most popular local meteorologist in Savannah, GA. But behind the cameras, she’s — not nice. When a freak head injury at work triggers surreal glimpses of the future, Cindy’s life quickly unspools.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs the Prince estate moves forward after years of confusion following the singer’s 2016 death, the six heirs are divided into two camps: the three siblings who sold their interests to Primary Wave, and the three who have retained their holdings.With the value of the estate recently determined at $156.4 million, the two parties are now establishing a structure for how to work together. In a ruling on Tuesday, a Minnesota judge decided against Primary Wave’s proposal to create a single holding company.

Find out what happened to Louis Tomlinson – Just Jared Jr Someone majorly dissed Meghan Markle – Celebitchy Did you see who is joining the Barbie film!? – Popsugar Find out the coolest Uncharted stunt that Tom Holland performed – Just Jared Jr

Brooke Shields goes topless in Jordache’s Spring 2022 campaign.

Margot Robbie. Robbie will play Barbie and Gosling will play Ken, but it is not yet known which role Ferrera will play.Gerwig wrote the screenplay, along with her partner Noah Baumbach, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap. This will be Gerwig’s third feature film following her debut, “Lady Bird,” and her adaptation of “Little Women,” both of which scored Best Picture nominations at the Oscars.Executive producers are Josey McNamara for LuckyChap Entertainment.

Bobby Brown has not one, but two new projects coming to A&E. The R&B icon is at the center of the two-part documentary,, and unscripted series, .According to the network, the new documentary will give fans a personal look at the musician’s “journey to superstardom and the fallout from his personal struggles with sobriety and the tragic deaths of his two children and first wife, Whitney Houston.”In addition to Brown, the documentary features new interviews with friends, family as well as Usher, Jermaine Dupri, Keith Sweat, Babyface, New Edition’s Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ronnie DeVoe and Johnny Gill. “Good or bad, I give you raw and authentic me being me,” the singer says in the trailer.

Quentin Tarantino's wife, Daniella, is pregnant with their second child together. A rep for the director confirmed the happy news to ET on Wednesday.The 58-year-old director and his 38-year-old wife — who's a singer and model, and the daughter of Israeli singer-songwriter Tzvika Pick — are already parents to their 1-year-old son, Leo, whom they welcomed in February 2020.

Kim Kardashian knows that her younger sister Khloé Kardashian is a great ambassador for SKIMS, and Khloé knows that supporting her sister’s brand is another way to showcase her love. Therefore, the 37-year-old reality tv personality took to social media to show her curves in a skin-tight brown bodysuit from the shapewear line.The former Keeping Up with the Kardashians star didn’t layer the outfit and opted for a sleek look.

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Andrea Nelson Meigs is joining UTA as a partner after the talent and lit agent left ICM Partners. Nelson Meigs has been at ICM for fourteen years, having joined the company from CAA.

Greg Evans Associate Editor/Broadway CriticThe Right Girl, a new musical based on (and co-written by) the real-life story of former screenwriter Louisette Geiss and the sexual harassment by Harvey Weinstein she says ended her film career, will be presented in a film version to a live audience for the first time next month.

During a career spanning six decades, Julie Walters has earned two Oscar nominations and appeared in such Hollywood hits as the “Harry Potter” franchise and “Mamma Mia!”.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterKate Hudson has signed on to star in Season 2 of the Apple drama series “Truth Be Told.”In her first regular television role, Hudson will appear alongside series lead Octavia Spencer. Spencer returns as Poppy Parnell, a true crime podcaster, in the second season.

Manori Ravindran International EditorDeepa Mehta’s latest film, an adaptation of Shyam Selvadurai’s Sri Lanka-set coming-of-age novel “Funny Boy,” has been picked up by Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing, and will land worldwide on Netflix this December, Variety can reveal.The Oscar-nominated “Earth” and “Midnight’s Children” director wrote the screenplay for the film alongside Selvadurai, whose debut 1994 novel is set in Sri Lanka during the 1970s and 1980s and was ground-breaking in its discussion of identity politics against the backdrop of escalating conflict between the island nation’s Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority.Shot on location in Colombo, the film explores Tamil protagonist Arjie’s (Anush Nand/Brandon Ingram) sexual awakening

Deadline recently confirmed the other names joining her in the Adam McKay film.It’s a who’s who of Hollywood including Oscar winners and one of our favourite Friends stars.Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Rob Morgan (Stranger Things), Himesh Patel (Yesterday), rapper Kid Cudi, Tomer Sisley (Messiah) and Friends star Matthew Perry are joining Lawrence in McKay’s follow-up to the movie Vice.Kid Cudi shared his excitement by writing: ‘Excited isn’t even the word. To be a part of this epic cast is unreal.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterSony Pictures Animation has plucked the first feature film from Academy Award winner Matthew Cherry, Variety has learned exclusively.After winning the Oscar for his acclaimed short “Hair Love,” Cherry is at work on the tentatively-titled “Tut,”  an afro-futuristic, coming-of-age story of the boy king Tutankhamun.Based on an original idea from Cherry and Monica A. Young, the film will take audiences on a journey through Ancient Egypt and celebrate a culture that introduced the world to countless modern conventions and technologies.Cherry said he was “beyond excited to explore the magical world of ancient Egypt through the eyes of its youngest ruler, King Tut.

The estate of the late swashbuckling producer and Paramount boss Bob Evans will be up for auction Oct. 24, a year after he died at 89.

Hollywood mainstay Matt Damon is 50! The Academy Award winner has been a staple in the industry for decades, and it seems like just yesterday he was breaking onto the scene as the baby-faced writer and star of Good Will Hunting. Matt and his childhood pal Ben Affleck rose to fame alongside each other when the film, which was set in their hometown of Cambridge and drew from their own experiences, went on to receive nine Academy Award nominations and grossed $225 million.

The Hollywood Reporter.The move is part of a series of adjustments to the Academy’s eligibility rules, following an initial set of changes related to the coronavirus pandemic from earlier this year.A two-part addendum was added to the recent adjustments, which allowed films no longer able to screen theatrically to still be eligible.In light of sporadic reopenings across the world, the Academy added two points.

jumped at the chance.The moment has gone down as one of the best scenes in the MCU thanks to Matt’s over-the-top portrayal of Loki to Chris’ brother Luke’s Thor (and Sam Neill’s Odin). When Matt rocked up to the premiere, nobody knew he was in the film but they certainly won’t forget his cameo.When his career wasn’t getting off the ground quick enough, he and Ben famously penned the script for Good Will Hunting which earned them an Oscar nomination.Not only that, but when the night came around, the two were stunned when they were announced as the winners.

awards season: drive-in screenings will count toward a film's eligibility at the 93rd Academy Awards.The Academy's Board of Governors initially made rule changes this past spring in response to theater closures, allowing Oscars-hopeful films unable to screen in theaters to qualify via the Academy Screening Room website. With the gradual reopening of theaters around the world, an addendum was added to clarify the two methods for qualification in the Best Picture and general entry categories moving forward through the end of this awards year -- which will conclude on Feb. 28, 2021.ET can confirm that on Oct.