NATO President & CEO John Fithian Retiring

Ethan Shanfeld At the inaugural The Gotham + Variety Audio Honors, presented by Wondery, leading podcast creators discussed their top tips for building an audience, and how the entertainment industry can do better to spotlight underrepresented voices. The event took place on Friday, Oct. 14, at Second Floor NYC in Midtown Manhattan. The 10 podcast honorees were selected for their innovations in audio storytelling by a committee of industry professionals chaired by Brittany Luse, new host of NPR’s “It’s Been a Minute.” Variety executive editor Brent Lang hosted the panel and delivered opening remarks alongside Gotham Executive Director Jeffrey Sharp.

Katcy Stephan The biggest drama on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” this season actually happened off-camera, when Kathy Hilton had a so-called meltdown during the girls’ Aspen trip at the end of the season.  After Lisa Rinna accompanied her home from a club, she claimed that Hilton had excoriated all the cast members, making especially hurtful comments about her sister Kyle Richards. From there, reports leaked in the press alleging that Hilton had used a homophobic slur after a DJ refused to play Michael Jackson.  The last two episodes of the “RHOBH” reunion have teased an explosive fight between Rinna and Hilton, with Hilton calling her the “biggest bully in Hollywood.” 

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Rupert Murdoch is considering getting the whole gang together again — a new combination of the two big media companies his family controls. Murdoch has proposed an exploration of the potential for a merger of Fox Corp. and News Corp., two entities his family split apart in the summer of 2013. according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed by the latter. The Wall Street Journal previously reported the decision, which would be mulled by special committees of each company’s board of directors. News Corp. said that it “formed a Special Committee composed of independent and disinterested members of the Board to begin exploring a potential combination with Fox Corporation” after it received “letters from K. Rupert Murdoch and the Murdoch Family Trust.” There is no guarantee a merger will result from the discussions, the company said.

Zack Sharf Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne have found success as the showrunners of Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” but before they resurrected Middle Earth it was the Starship Enterprise they tried to get off the ground. McKay and Payne wrote a “Star Trek Beyond” sequel for director S.J. Clarkson that would’ve served as the fourth film in the J.J. Abrams-backed reboot series starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and more. The script, which McKay and Payne have rarely spoken about, featured Chris Hemsworth returning as George Kirk, father of Pine’s James Kirk. “I would love to tell you about it,” McKay told Esquire magazine, opening up in detail for the first time about the “Star Trek” movie never made. “We worked on a couple of ‘Star Trek’ movies. The one you’re asking about would have been the fourth in the franchise, reuniting Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pine. The conceit was that through a cosmic quirk in the ‘Star Trek’ world, they were the same age. It was going to be a grand father-son space adventure—think ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ in space. We were really thrilled about it.”

Next year, CHANEL dedicates its Summer 2023 Ready-To-Wear show at the Grand Palais Ephémère in Paris to actress Kristen Stewart. No surprise there, as Steward has been a brand ambassador for the French fashion house since 2013 and is the face of CHANEL’s S/S 2023 collection.

Kim Kardashian stepped in it when she and her sisters joined mom Kris Jenner for a Variety photo shoot earlier this year, thanks to some controversial business advice she offered.

Mani Haghighi is the latest film director who has been impacted by Iran’s ongoing restraint on filmmakers.

Friday report in The Wall Street Journal.The Journal – itself part of the News Corp side of Murdoch’s holdings – says the discussions are at an “early stage,” with special exploratory board committees forming on both sides. A merger would bring the media empires back under one roof since Murdoch split his holdings in 2013 into News Corp, which is primarily publishing, and Fox Corp., mostly TV.Murdoch, 91, is currently executive chair of both companies.

“Good Mythical Morning,” hosts Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal asked former child actor Seth Green, “Who is the rudest celebrity you’ve ever met, and tell us what was so bad about them?”Green, 48, said the grouchiest celebrity he ever encountered was Bill Murray, 72. Murray, who was hosting “Saturday Night Live” at the time, reportedly threw Green into a trash can when he was just 9 years old. “Bill Murray, as everybody knows, he’s great with kids,” Green sarcastically started the story.

It's only day one of this year's BravoCon and Lisa Rinna is already making headlines. The  alum made quite an entrance when she joined her cast mates for Friday'spanel. After «Thrills in Beverly Hills» panel host Brad Goreski introduced her, Rinna walked into a chorus of cheers and boos from the crowd.

Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie have heard about the so-called feud rumors between them, and they're responding with hysterical laughter because it's all so damn silly.While on the red carpet at BravoCon, on their way to moderate a Q&A sesh with Andy Cohen at the Javits Center in New York City on Friday, the venerable co-hosts spoke to ET's Brice Sander and addressed the rumors saying, in short, it's a laughing matter.«We don't [have a feud],» Guthrie insisted while laughing away. «It's the silliest, but, you know, what can you do?»Kotb echoed Guthrie's sentiments.«You know, you get a kick out of it,» she tells ET.

Jon Gosselin is getting called out by the CEO of his daughter’s beauty brand!

Married At First Sight UK couple Tayah Victoria and Adam Aveling welcomed their first child into the world earlier this month.The pair, who met on the E4 experimental dating show, welcomed a baby girl into their family and named her Beau Emily Aveling. In the days following as the pair get used to being a family of three, Tayah opened up about how she’s feeling as she shared a sweet picture of the trio along with their dog on Instagram Stories.

Tom DeLonge is expressing his thanks.

Before Paul Newman passed away, the Hollywood star reflected on the loss of his only son. Scott Newman, a fellow actor, died in 1978 at age 28 from a drug and alcohol overdose. Newman, who passed away in 2008 at age 83, detailed his heartbreak in a memoir published posthumously titled "Paul Newman: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man." It’s out on Tuesday.

The Stallone family stunned at the Ralph Lauren Runway show in Los Angeles on Thursday. Sylvester Stallone, 76, and Jennifer Flavin, 54 – who have been married for 25 years – were accompanied by two of their daughters, Sophia and Sistine Stallone, as they all wore corresponding neutral tones to the show held at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. The family outing comes after Stallone and Flavin called off their divorce in September.  Jennifer Flavin, Sistine Stallone, Sylvester Stallone and Sophia Stallone attend the Ralph Lauren SS23 Runway Show on Thursday.

Crew 4 astronauts with NASA and SpaceX made re-entry Friday into Earth after departing hours earlier from the International Space Station. The crew splashed down off the Florida coast near Jacksonville around 4:55 p.m.

NASCAR legend Tony Stewart was still fuming Wednesday after the stock car racing organization determined the race team he co-owns manipulated the finish of last week’s race. Stewart-Haas racing is still appealing the $200,000 fine and ruling, but Stewart decided not to talk about the decision.  NASCAR said Tuesday a review of data and team communications showed that the race team manipulated the results of the Charlotte race, the final event of the Round of 12 in the playoffs. "I’m not going to talk about it," Stewart said Wednesday in Texas for his 13th Smoke Show racing fantasy camp, which raises money for Speedway Children’s Charities in the state.  Tony Stewart talks to other drivers prior to the SRX qualifying race at Sharon Speedway July 23, 2022, in Hartford, Ohio.  (Jason Miller/SRX/Getty Images) He’s set to go to the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas, instead of this weekend’s NASCAR race in Las Vegas.

The New York Democrat fundraiser linked to "Squad" member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., was placed on administrative leave from his job after reports of his anti-Semitic social media posts.

Dan Grieb, 45 years old, was looking for a way to change his life.  After waking up one morning and facing the fact that he was overweight and needed to do something about it, he decided to embrace a compelling new challenge.  Grieb of Orlando, Florida, joined "America’s Newsroom" on Friday morning to discuss the journey he took to a healthier lifestyle — and how that decision led him to coach others.  "I woke up one day … I was 120 pounds overweight. I was a good husband and a good dad and just didn’t believe I could have it all," he said.  Dan Grieb joined "America's Newsroom" on Oct.

Major spoiler warning for “Halloween Ends.” Do not read if you haven’t seen it (or are a complete sicko that is comfortable with having the movie totally ruined for you)!Much was made about the mantra spouted (repeatedly) in “Halloween Kills:” evil dies tonight. As Michael’s bloody murder spree whips the town of Haddonfield into a frenzy, the town becomes consumed with its own hatred – embarking on a misplaced quest to bring Michael down.

EJ Panaligan editor High Octane Pictures’ “Izzy Lyon: The Unspun Truth,” an absurd mockumentary about a famous sign spinner, is set for digital release on November 4th. The film stars comedians David Koechner, Greg Proops, Phil LaMarr, Lang Parker and Kym Whitley. Following the murky life of famed sign spinner Izzy Lyon, the film picks up twenty years since Lyon mysteriously disappeared, and a group of fervent fans seek to reunite in order to uncover the truth behind the celebrity’s disappearance. The group of fans investigate Lyon’s life in detail, from his early 80’s rise to his late 90’s downfall, in the process discovering a portrait of a flawed individual that they’ve worshipped blindly in the past. Anti-Izzy adversaries are said to be working to exclude Lyon from the Spinternational Hall of Fame, which is followers must reckon with throughout the film.

Alex Swhear Among the many oddities of a tumultuous, pandemic-addled year in music in 2020, the most surprising might have been that Taylor Swift’s massive “Folklore” was surpassed in consumption by the end of the year by an even more massive album from a still up-and-coming Atlanta rapper. Up until the release of “My Turn,” Lil Baby had still been defined, as with so many of his ATL contemporaries, as some variation of “Young Thug clone.” But the record, boosted by its deluxe release to become the most consumed album of the year, chugged along into a sleeper hit that shot him into the hip-hop stratosphere.  It is this rise over the last couple years that undergirds the arrival of his new record, “It’s Only Me,” and what also perhaps explains the mentality behind an often phoned-in slog of a work. The album, Baby’s third studio effort, largely solidifies what was perhaps even more unexpected about his superstardom: the fact that it was built on a sound that, on the star-making “My Turn,” was largely flavorless and inert when taken in its full dosage. Lil Baby rose to the top ranks with a somewhat distinct voice — a smooth, hoarse tone that often sounds effortless on his sprinting flows — but it was typically laid across shamelessly copy-and-paste trap production. 

The two New York ex-cons accused in connection with the shooting death of the father of a local Marist College student at a Poughkeepsie hotel were ordered held without bail on Friday after they pleaded not guilty.  Roy Johnson and Devin Taylor are charged separately for their involvement in the October 2 shooting that led to the death of 53-year-old Paul Kutz and the discovery of an alleged bomb-making "manual."  Wearing a white t-shirt and an orange jail-issued jumpsuit with his hair up, Johnson – the man accused of opening fire and killing Kutz – appeared in New York's Dutchess County Court early Friday. Johnson, 35, was indicted on one count of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.  Taylor, 26, appeared separately from Johnson on two charges of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.  Photos show Paul Kutz with his family in an image from 2013.

It looks like Carey Mulligan must’ve gotten on a plane right after the New York premiere of her movie She Said!

Russell Crowe is speaking out to deny a story about him from over eight months ago.

The New York Times tweeted out a rhetorically charged description of Wisconsin's U.S. Senate race candidates that led to familiar charges of bias against the liberal outlet.  Leading into the Thursday night debate, the Times sent a tweet that labeled Republican Sen. Ron Johnson as a "leading peddler of misinformation" and Democratic candidate Lt.

The parents of a northern Indiana teenager who died along with her boyfriend when a vehicle being chased by police crashed into their car in 2020 is suing the city of Mishawaka. The lawsuit filed by Elizabeth Johnson-Neher’s parents alleges that the December 2020 police pursuit was dangerous from the onset and that Mishawaka police officers were not properly trained in reasonable procedures governing such pursuits, the South Bend Tribune reported.

“It is nearly impossible to sum up a career of three decades in a few sentences,” said Fithian in a statement. “I will leave that to others.

Brent Lang Executive Editor John Fithian, the top lobbyist for the exhibition industry, will retire as the CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners on May 1, 2023. The group said it has already begun a search for Fithian’s successor, but he leaves big shoes to fill having been a major force at NATO, as it is called, for 30 years. Initially engaged as outside counsel to NATO in 1992, Fithian assumed the presidency in 2000. In that capacity, he helped guide the group’s members through some of the most tumultuous periods in the cinema business’s history, including its transition to digital projection, as well as the COVID-19 closures that brought the industry to its knees.