Peter Bart: The “Club” That Used To Solve Hollywood’s Labor Problems Is Extinct. So Now What?

Jennifer Lopez is celebrating her husband Ben Affleck‘s birthday!

Could an October surprise be coming to Hollywood’s picket lines and C-suites?

Ron DeSantis has been having a hard time out on the campaign trail lately convincing Republican voters that he should be their presidential nominee, and the Walt Disney Company isn’t about to make things any easier for the Florida governor.

Jeff Zucker was breezing through the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach when he spotted David Zaslav across the room. The former CNN chief was there on vacation on March 31, while the current Warner Bros. Discovery CEO was on hand for the Saudi-backed FII Institute’s Global Priority Summit.

The mysterious sanctuary hidden away in the Jemez mountains was known only as Box 1663 in the mid 1950s. The mission of its 13,000 residents was to create “the gadget.” Living there was a challenge. “It’s a prison camp for eggheads,” whispered one scientist.

Prince Harry and Meghan are reportedly considering moving back to her star-studded childhood home town. The royal couple is said to be eyeing up a mansion in the beach city of Malibu in California, the Express reports.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Here’s an example of just how chaotic things are in Hollywood these days: Disney CEO Bob Iger’s recent remarks that the company’s linear TV assets “may not be core” to its business were buried under the lede of his comments that SAG-AFTRA and the WGA are not being “realistic” in their contract negotiations last week. But now that a small bit of the initial dual strike dust has settled, sources inside and outside of Disney are asking what reaction Iger was looking to provoke by announcing Disney’s intention to “open-minded and objective about the future of those businesses,” which include broadcast network ABC as well as cablers FX, Disney Channel, Nat Geo and Freeform, among others. (Not ESPN, which is run by Jimmy Pitaro under a separate segment of Disney’s business from its other TV and streaming assets.)

Alison Herman TV Critic For “Minx,” the show, it’s been a rocky path. Despite strong reviews, good word of mouth and even a swift Season 2 renewal for the period porn comedy, the show became a casualty of upheaval at its parent company. Scrambling to pay down debt from the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc., CEO David Zaslav took a series of drastic steps that alienated creatives and consumers alike. Entire back catalogs disappeared from streaming services; “Batgirl,” a big-name superhero project,  was scrapped for a tax break despite completing production; and “Minx” had its renewal rolled back while still shooting Season 2. But for Minx, the fictional magazine within the show, things are looking up. We know this because, this week, the show makes a miraculous return on Starz, a network that’s capitalized on its competitors’ hot-and-cold decision making by picking up both “Minx” and “Three Women,” the limited series nixed by Showtime before it even premiered. The new episodes, all eight of which were shared with critics in advance, resolve some of the cliffhangers that could’ve left fans wanting if “Minx” were truly cut short: what editor Joyce Prigger (Ophelia Lovibond) will do with ownership of her ascendant publication, or whether Tina (Idara Victor) will choose business school over sleaze kingpin Doug Renetti (Jake Johnson), her boss-turned-boyfriend. Before long, however, the season starts to feel like wish fulfillment — a turn that sometimes saps the show of conflict, but also hits especially hard given how close “Minx” came to the brink. If our time with these characters is precious, why not see them happy?

Disney CEO Bob Iger already made his perspective clear about the ongoing guild strikes last week before the SAG-AFTRA one commenced. Now it’s Netflix CEO’s Ted Sarandos‘ turn.

“Look who’s running Hollywood right now, corporate America,” declared Teamster president Sean O’Brien on the WGA and SAG-AFTRA picket line outside Amazon’s LA HQ. Big corporations, they don’t care about their people. They care about the bottom line and the balance sheet,” he added with Hollywood Teamster leader Lindsay Dougherty by his side.

Netflix stands to benefit from the dual strikes underway in Hollywood while competitors like Disney and Apple will get “weaker,” in part because of the streamer’s vast international production pipeline, a top media-stocks analyst said Wednesday on the brink of earnings season.“The strike plays to their advantage,” Michael Nathanson, founding partner of SVB MoffettNathanson, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I’ve not been a Netflix bull, but their setup for this quarter and the next 12 months is incredibly strong.”Co-host Andrew Ross-Sorkin seized on that notion, seeking to clarify whether Nathanson meant Netflix would get stronger merely relative to its competition – or if it could help the streamer overall. The answer seemed to be: a bit of both.“I think relative, clearly, right?” Nathanson said.

Fran Drescher, the sitcom star turned actors union leader, preferred to evoke the French Revolution, likening SAG-AFTRA’s struggle to the proletariat’s rebellion against an out-of-touch monarchy. “Eventually the people break down the gates of Versailles,” the “Nanny” star said during a press conference officially announcing the strike.

Stephen Rodrick Fran Drescher is on a hero’s journey.  I know because she told me.   We talked on Monday for about an hour as the actors’ strike moved into a second week. So far, it’s been very dramatic. Last Thursday, Drescher gave her version of Shakespeare’s Henry V’s St. Crispins Day speech with “we happy few” replaced by all American workers via “I think that the whole world is looking at us right now, because human beings in all different walks of life are being replaced by robots.” The speech launched a thousand labor-supporting memes and left reporters wondering if “The Nanny” was the new Norma Rae. Drescher carried the mojo into the first day of picketing on Friday when she called Disney CEO Bob Iger a medieval land baron for discourse launched from his Sun Valley Summer Camp. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) seized on the SAG-AFTRA strike in an online conversation with President Fran Drescher on Tuesday evening, as they both bashed Bob Iger and other CEOs, and made the case for why the actors’ walkout should be of concern of all workers.

Editor’s note: Jesse Andrews is author of the novel Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, which is one of five books pulled from the library shelves of high schools within the purview of Tallahassee, Florida-based Leon County Schools superintendent Rock Hanna, after the Leon County chapter of the conservative group Moms for Liberty petitioned the schools to remove the book because of the frank depiction of sex and gender identity issues. The others include Push, the Sapphire-penned book that inspired the film Precious;Doomed by Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk; Lucky by Alice Sebold; and Dead End by Jason Meyer. Still being scrutinized is an autobiography of tennis great Billie Jean King, because it discusses her sexuality. This has been an ongoing theme precipitated by policies passed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and legislative Republicans. DeSantis is running for president and probably figured to ride his brawl with Disney into the White House, until Bob Iger began pushing back in ways that have cost revenue and investments it planned for the state of Florida, where Disney is its largest taxpayer and employer. What’s it like to see your book banished for, as Moms for Liberty argued in its email to the school board, violate state law and subject school district personnel to potential felony prosecution and litigation? Here, Andrews — also a screenwriter whose credits include co-writing with Mike Jones Pixar’s Luca — explains it all.

Star Wars’ Lando Calrissian show starring Donald Glover will not be happening anytime soon it seems. Even the writers are saying that they have “no clue” what is going on. The last update that writer Justin Simien got about the show was in the year 2020.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis held a packed union meeting at their Beverly Hills home. Desi Arnaz poured his heart out in an open letter to the industry while Lew Wasserman worked the numbers quietly behind the scenes. And it was none other than future Oval Office occupant Ronald Reagan who led the Screen Actors Guild through the war in 1960, the last time that Hollywood experienced such a season of labor strife with actors and the Writers Guild of America on strike at the same time. And it was already a tumultuous time for the industry. In 1959, Congress and the Justice Department were deep into their investigation of “payola” corruption involving music labels and radio station owners. Congress also held hearings that year on the notorious TV quiz show scandals (see 1994’s “Quiz Show” for a primer).

Sean Gunn, the actor who played the lovable townsman on the hit show, is calling out Netflix for his lack of residual pay. Sean, the 49-year-old brother of Marvel and DC director James Gunn, shared with on Friday that he was out on the picket line for the first day of the SAG-AFTRA strike to mainly «protest Netflix.» The streaming service currently streams all seven seasons of as well as the 2016 revival, . Sean played Kirk in all seven seasons of the show, as well as all four episodes of the revival, both of which star Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel as the beloved mother-daughter duo Lorelai and Rory Gilmore«I was on a television show called for a long time that has brought in massive profits for Netflix,» Sean told. «It has been one of their most popular shows for a very long time, over a decade.

Barry Diller, the former head of ABC, Fox Broadcasting Company, and Paramount and current Chairman and Senior Executive, IAC and Expedia Group, stirred the pot during an appearance Sunday on CBS talk show “Face the Nation.”

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Disney didn’t let the SAG-AFTRA strike get in the way of its “Haunted Mansion” world premiere. None of the stars of the movie were expected to be in attendance, including LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Chase W. Dillon, Daniel Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Hasan Minhaj, Marilu Henner and Lindsay Lamb all observing the SAG-AFTRA strike. The studio still rolled out the red carpet at Disneyland in Anaheim Saturday night. Director Justin Simien told Variety he was “sad” his cast couldn’t attend, but understands why and supports the actors walkout. Later in, he gave a shoutout to the cast while introducing the movie.

"Guardians of the Galaxy" star Sean Gunn blasted Disney CEO Bob Iger over comments that the executive made about the Writer's Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)  strikes. Shortly before SAG-AFTRA joined the WGA on strike Thursday, Iger, 72, made an appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box" during which he said that the pending actors union strike would have a "very, very damaging effect on the whole business." "It will affect the economy of different regions, even, because of the sheer size of the business.

Ron Perlman is walking back some heated comments he made about an anonymous Hollywood executive who told a news outlet that the studios’ plan is to let the strike extend for so long that writers and actors feel real financial pain.

Fran Drescher is opening up about the SAG-AFTRA strike and how long it might go on.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher railed against Disney CEO Bob Iger during an interview with Variety on the strike picket lines outside of the Paramount Pictures studio lot. In a July 13 interview with CNBC’s David Faber out of the Sun Valley Conference, Iger said WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikers were not being “realistic” with their demands. “I found them terribly repugnant and out of touch. Positively tone deaf,” Drescher said when asked about Iger’s comments. “I don’t think it served him well. If I were that company, I would lock him behind doors and never let him talk to anybody about this, because it’s so obvious that he has no clue as to what is really happening on the ground with hard working people that don’t make anywhere near the salary he is making. High seven figures, eight figures, this is crazy money that they make and they don’t care if they’re land barons of a medieval time.”

Well, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav already put his foot in his mouth responding to the WGA writers’ strike, so now it’s Bob Iger‘s turn.

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here back from a (hopefully) well earned break with a packed newsletter following a week in which actors joined writers on the pickets for the first time in more than 60 years and the BBC found itself mired in crisis, yet again. Read on, and sign up here.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer As the clock ticked toward midnight on July 12, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher addressed the group of negotiators from the major studios. “You’re sitting on the wrong side of history,” she told them. “Shame on you.” It had been clear for some time that Drescher’s union would go on strike. A final day of talks with two federal mediators had done nothing to bridge the gaps between the two sides. Drescher’s speech served as the exclamation point — a dramatic flourish from a born performer — casting the dispute over business models and residual formulas in Manichean terms.

he said that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA’s conditions were “just not realistic” and that the prospect of a writers and actors strike was “very disturbing.”Iger’s comments come on a historic day, when SAG-AFTRA is expected to announce they are joining WGA on the picket lines after their Wednesday contract negotiations deadline passed without a deal. It would be the first Hollywood double strike in sixty years.Also notable for context, Iger’s comments arrive the day after his Disney contract was extended for an additional two years.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Jeff Zucker is not shopping for CNN, according to one of the backing partners of his new media venture. Gerry Cardinale, the private equity player and founder of RedBird Capital, partnered with International Media Investments last year to launch a $1 billion media acquisitions engine run by Zucker. Reports were rampant in June that Zucker was looking to take CNN off the hands of Warner Bros. Discovery, after running the news network for decades before resigning in 2022 over a consensual workplace affair. “No,” Cardinale said on Thursday when asked if he and Zucker were looking to buy CNN, speaking on stage at the Variety and Sportico Sports and Entertainment Summit in West Hollywood. “I would not have the longevity that I’ve had if I ran my business running around town talking about deals in a way that’s, frankly, disrespectful to David Zaslav. I’m kind of amused and irritated by it.”

Leaders of a Hollywood’s actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with studios and streaming services broke down.Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, said at a news conference that the union leadership voted for the work stoppage hours after their contract expired and talks broke off with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers representing employers including Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others.“A strike is an instrument of last resort,” he said. Union leaders said at a news conference that they voted unanimously for a strike to begin at midnight.

Striking writers now have a new punching bag: Bob Iger.

SAG-AFTRA is set to launch the guild’s first strike against the film and television industry since 1980, and the leadership of the actors union are set to explain the decision.

The London premiere of Oppenheimer is underway — but not all of the stars will stick around for the screening if SAG-AFTRA officially calls a strike today.

Ellise Shafer During an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday morning, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the writers and actors unions going on strike in Hollywood are not being “realistic” with their expectations. Speaking to CNBC’s David Faber from the Sun Valley Conference in Idaho, Iger commented on the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike and imminent decision for SAG-AFTRA to join them. “It’s very disturbing to me. We’ve talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges we’re facing, the recovery from COVID which is ongoing, it’s not completely back. This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption,” Iger said. “I understand any labor organization’s desire to work on behalf of its members to get the most compensation and be compensated fairly based on the value that they deliver. We managed, as an industry, to negotiate a very good deal with the directors guild that reflects the value that the directors contribute to this great business. We wanted to do the same thing with the writers, and we’d like to do the same thing with the actors. There’s a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic. And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive.”

Disney CEO Bob Iger said the linear TV business “may not be core” to the company, and efforts are under way to explore a number of strategic options for them.

If there was a GIF for the moment, it may be Michael Scott running around like a headless chicken screaming for everyone to “stay calm.”