Paramount CEO Says Disney Plus Launching Ad-Supported Option Is ‘Validation of the Strategy’

It’s a very big day in the Golding house!

Pedro Almodóvar, whose film Parallel Mothers was nominated for two Oscars, is one of the latest celebs in Hollywood to weigh in on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at this year’s Academy Awards.

Doja Cat needs a break! This and much more on our latest podcast! CLICK HERE to watch this episode of The Perez Hilton Podcast with Chris Booker!

Camila Cabello felt “super vulnerable and unprepared” during her Saturday outing to a Miami beach club.

the Washington Post.McCall rose to fame as a country music star with songs about driving 18-wheelers and big-rigs, including 1976 number one hit “Convoy.”His real name was Bill Fries and he was an ad executive turned singer.He created the character of C.W. McCall, a truck driver in a series of commercials for a Midwestern bread company.The goal wasn’t to create an alter-ego but to sell bread using catchy, country-sounding jingles.McCall took on this persona and began recording music about long-haul trucking, even establishing his own CB radio lingo truckers picked up and still use today.He was well known in the ’70s for his hit country records: “Old Home Filler-Up” and “Keep On-a-Truckin’ Cafe,” “Wolf Creek Pass,” and most famous of all, “Convoy,” which became a No.

Bill Maher is addressing Will Smith and Chris Rock‘s 2022 Oscars incident.

Though he may have lost his life far too soon, it’s clear Taylor Hawkins, his music and his spirit will be remembered far into the next generation. And some of the first to prove that? ‘Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl, 53, whose daughters Violet, 15, and Harper, 12, showed their solemn care for the late drummer by donning black dresses to a recent pre-GRAMMY event. Alongside mom Jordyn, the trio chose all-black attire out of respect to the drummer’s still-recent death, just hours before he was supposed to go on stage with his band for a performance in Bógota, Colombia. See the photos of the trio here!

Diddy, 52, started off GRAMMY Award weekend right when he attended a fun bash on Apr. 1! The rapper was photographed walking outside the Offsunset night club in West Hollywood with his rumored new girlfriend Yung Miami, 28, as they left Mike Dean and Jeff Bhasker‘s event, which was held in honor of music’s biggest night of the year on Sunday. The good-looking pair was dressed in stylish outfits as they walked by cameras and appeared relaxed around each other.

Lee Daniels and Mo’Nique again demonstrated that they’ve moved on from their longtime feud on Friday night, with the former crashing a New York comedy event put on by his Precious star, and teasing their upcoming collaboration on the Netflix film, Demon House.

Tim Gray Senior Vice PresidentUCLA’s latest Hollywood Diversity Report found some improvement in 2022 in regards to hiring women and people of color, but activist group FWD-Doc is demanding that UCLA address other overlooked groups such as LGBTQIA+ individuals and the “invisible minority” — disabled people — in the industry.Jim LeBrecht, co-founder of FWD-Doc and co-director of the Oscar-nominated documentary “Crip Camp” (2020), states, “UCLA’s report that stands for promoting diversity is an egregious case of exclusion and perpetuates the misconception that people with disabilities do not exist in the entertainment industry. In light of ‘CODA’s’ three Oscar wins at the recent 94th Academy Awards ceremony, this oversight reinforces FWD-Doc’s assertion that this report is incomplete and not comprehensive.” He adds that other groups have been under-represented, such as LGBTQIA+ people, but were ignored in the study.The ninth annual report, from UCLA’s Division of Social Sciences, covers the top 200 theatrical English-language releases in 2021, ranked by global box office, as well as all major streaming films based on total household ratings.

It looks like Netflix is trying to put some distance between itself and Will Smith following his behavior at this year’s Oscars.

Daniel Craig has tested positive for COVID-19 and, as a result, the diagnosis has led to the cancellation of at least two shows of the Broadway production he's starring in, .The production's official Twitter account made the announcement, saying that Saturday's matinee and evening performances of  have been cancelled after the star tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this afternoon.«We apologize for the inconvenience this causes ticket holders, but the safety of our audiences, the cast and crew remains our top priority. All tickets for the cancelled performance will be refunded at the original point of purchase,» the statement continued.PERFORMANCE UPDATE FOR SATURDAY, APRIL 2 Today’s matinee and evening performance of MACBETH are cancelled due to Daniel Craig just testing positive for COVID this afternoon.

NEWLY single ALAN CARR has begged David Gandy to set him up with his “chubby chaser” model mates. The comedian, who split from husband Paul Drayton in January, is awaiting his divorce to be finalised.

KIND Tom Parker secretly supported a woman who passed away from a brain tumour just weeks before his own death. The Wanted star became close friends with Amani Liaquat after discovering they shared the same terminal diagnosis.

KATIE Price's ex-husband Kieran Hayler has taken a swipe at her by making her former pal his baby son's godmother. Dad-of-three Kieran and fiancée Michelle Penticost announced PR expert Kirsty Shaw-Rayner is one of Apollo's godparents at The Rankin Family Foundation launch.

TARON Egerton has quit West End play Cock due to 'personal reasons'. The A-list star, who has been replaced by understudy Joel Harper-Jackson, has had a torrid run of luck since the show launched last month.

AS hard-nosed copper DCI Frank Burnside in The Bill, actor Chris Ellison was famous for his terse one-liners. But now Chris, 75, has been cast into a twilight world with the same speech debilitating illness as Hollywood action movie Bruce Willis.

Another Rock has spoken out regarding Slapgate; Chris Rock‘s brother, Tony Rock. Defending the most infamous moments of the Oscars 2022, when Will Smith slapped Chris across the face after a joke he made about Jada Pinkett-Smith‘s hair. The slap heard around the world has continued to cause reverberations, and Tony didn’t hold back when he discussed the moment in a new stand-up routine.

IT’S been two years since Sam Smith put out a record, but we can reveal that the superstar is back with an upbeat new single. The velvet-voiced singer is releasing Love Me More, which promises a party, celebratory sound and should guarantee a return to the charts.  They’ve been spotted out letting their hair down on the dance floor lately as the post-pandemic London club scene gets back up and running and it seems they’re bringing the vibe to the track’s video.  We’re told Sam wants to recreate the same bashes they’ve been to at queer hotspot The Vauxhall Tavern, in the capital, celebrating freedom and love.  A pal said: “Sam is super excited to be making a long-awaited comeback and feels the time is ripe.  “They’re all about love, laughter and being able to go out and dance again and want that to reflect in their music after a heavy few years.

DANCING On Ice star Matt Evers has dished on his former dance partners including his least favourite. The pro skater, who was partnered with Corrie's Sally Dynevor in the competition this year, opened up about the challenges of partnering up with famous names.

SHAMED Hollywood star Will Smith will chill out at a plush retreat to recover from stress following the backlash over his slapping of Chris Rock at the Oscars. The 53-year-old will visit a high-end US sanctuary to take a work break after the shock on-stage assault.

A FRESH faced Molly-Mae Hague told fans she was enjoying a "rare day off" by pampering herself at home. The former Love Island star took to her Instagram to explain she was making the most of the "first Saturday in ages she had nothing to do".

CORONATION Street actor Simon Gregson was asked to leave a club after taking off his shirt and dancing topless on furniture at a co-star’s leaving do. And the fun-loving soap star raged at bouncers who tried to boot him out.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDiscovery investors voted in approval of the company’s $43 billion acquisition of WarnerMedia from AT&T to create Warner Bros. Discovery during a special meeting of stockholders Friday, marking one of the final formal steps before the transaction can close.The deal, a spinoff of WarnerMedia from AT&T, is expected to be completed early in Q2, with insiders telling Variety the estimated date is between April 11-28. The merger has already received approval from the U.S.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterWarnerMedia has been owned by telco giant AT&T for less than four years and it will soon have a new parent company — likely by the end of next month.Discovery’s shareholder vote on the acquisition of WarnerMedia is set for today during a special meeting of stockholders set for 10 a.m. ET. The deal is expected to get an easy thumbs-up given the approval already bestowed by Discovery’s oldest and most influential holders, investor John Malone and Advance/Newhouse Co.

After a conversation covering broadband, wireless spectrum, DOCSIS and other “wonky” corners of Charter Communications’ business, CEO Tom Rutledge saved his pay-TV punches for the closing stretch.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDisney CEO Bob Chapek said Wednesday the company is pledging $5 million to the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations protecting LGBTQ rights following backlash to the company’s initial quiet response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, as well as a report that the company has given money to all of the bill’s sponsors. Chapek, who is taking his first public stance against the bill, says he will also be meeting with Republican Gov.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterWarnerMedia is “pausing all new business in Russia” amid the country’s continued invasion of Ukraine, CEO Jason Kilar announced Wednesday.“I want to share with each of you a number of decisions we have made with regard to WarnerMedia’s business operations in Russia,” Kilar said in a memo to WarnerMedia staff obtained by Variety. “Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, WarnerMedia is pausing all new business in Russia.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix execs have regularly insisted that there’s no way the company would introduce an ad-supported service.Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann, speaking Tuesday at an investor conference, took a slightly more open tone: He noted that the subscription streamer doesn’t currently have any plans right now to introduce an ad-supported VOD plan, but he didn’t rule it out at some point in the future.“It’s not like we have religion against advertising, to be clear,” said Neumann, speaking Tuesday at Morgan Stanley’s 2022 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. “But that’s not something that’s in our plans right now… We have a really nice scalable subscription model, and again, never say never, but it’s not in our plan.” During the session, Neumann was asked about Netflix’s thinking about a cheaper, ad-based tier after Disney announced plans to rollout an AVOD plan for Disney Plus starting late in 2022 in the U.S.

Bob Bakish, CEO of Paramount Global, took the floor for the first time publicly since the renamed company’s recent and not well-received Investor Day, touting streaming prospects but acknowledging, “We are going to have to prove that to you over time” – referring to Wall Street.

Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann addressed the decision to pull out of Russia and pushed back ever-so-slightly less firmly than the notion of advertising being introduced to the service.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDan Abrams’ true-crime channel Law & Crime has struck a carriage deal with Dish Network, Variety has learned exclusively.Live trial and 24/7 true-crime network Law & Crime, which recently aired national coverage of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial and the trial of Brett Hankison, a former police officer charged in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, has now launched on Dish and is available to customers on Channel 252. The new distribution pact between Law & Crime and Dish increases the channel’s reach to more than 27 million households across the U.S., the Bahamas and Virgin Islands.“We’ve had a deal with Sling for a number of years now and have always been aspiring to also be included in Dish,” Law & Crime founder, ABC News chief legal affairs anchor and NewsNation host Abrams told Variety. “And so this has been a number-of-years effort to add Dish to our roster of partners.

Walt Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said the entertainment giant’s total exposure to Russia and Ukraine combined is about 2% of its total operating income — with Ukraine about 10% of that 2%.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDisney CFO Christine McCarthy insisted that media giant’s move to introduce a cheaper, ad-supported version of Disney Plus later this year is not a “hail Mary” to try to hit aggressive streaming-acquisition goals with a lower entry price.The goal of Disney Plus with ads is to provide consumers an additional choice for how they want to subscribe to the service, according to McCarthy, speaking Monday at Morgan Stanley’s 2022 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.“We had some preconceived notions of what consumers wanted” before the company launched Disney Plus, she said — in other words, the assumption was that people generally wanted zero advertising. McCarthy said Disney did some additional research and found that some consumers viewed ad-supported streaming services more favorably than ad-free services.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterJennifer Lopez’s “Marry Me” is the most-streamed day-and-date movie on Peacock and Will Smith’s gritty “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” reboot “Bel-Air,” which debuted after the Super Bowl last month, is the platform’s top series, Comcast CEO and chairman Brian Roberts said during a Morgan Stanley conference Monday.More to come…

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterTech-centric holding company Ballantyne Strong has launched Strong Studios to create content under the company’s Strong Entertainment division. David Ozer, formerly CEO of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment’s Landmark Studio Group, will serve as president of the new studio.Based in New York, Strong Studios will develop and produce original feature films and television series, as well as acquire third party rights to content for global multiplatform distribution.