Kim Masters on the Jeff Zucker Scandal; India Arie Shares Clips of Joe Rogan Using N-Word; HBO Renews 'Euphoria' For S3; Tom Holland Talks 'Uncharted'

View on web New reader? Subscribe February 05, 2022 What's news: Spotify's Joe Rogan problem just got a lot more problematic. Susan Sarandon is apologizing for sharing a tasteless joke. The PGA is honoring Greg Berlanti with the Norman Lear Award. A new GTA game is on the way. Plus: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse co-director Peter Ramsey is making a live-action vampire movie for Paramount — Abid Rahman India Arie Shares Clips of Joe Rogan Using N-Word ►Impossible to ignore. Grammy-winning singer India Arie, who said she was pulling her music from Spotify over Joe Rogan's comments about Black people, posted a video on social media that seemingly shows the podcaster repeatedly using the N-word. On her Instagram, Arie posted edited footage of YouTube clips appearing to show Rogan using the N-word roughly two dozen times. She also posted clips in which Rogan appeared to share an anecdote in which he compared being around Black people to “Planet of the Apes.” The story.   —No-brainer. HBO has renewed Euphoria for a third season. The pickup comes halfway through the show’s eight-episode second season and amid a big increase in viewership. Per HBO, Euphoria's second season premiere has amassed 14 million viewers across all platforms since its Jan. 9 debut, more than double the show’s average for season one (6.6 million). The story. —"I deeply regret the meme I recently shared." Susan Sarandon is apologizing after likening the officers remembering slain NYPD Detective Jason Rivera to fascists. Sarandon shared a tweet that podcaster Danny Haiphong had posted showing thousands of officers gathering for Rivera’s funeral. “I’m gonna tell my kids this is what fascism looks like,” Haiphong wrote in his post. The story.  —"I’m incredibly honored." Prolific producer, writer and director Greg Berlanti will receive the Producers Guild of America’s Norman Lear Achievement Award at the 2022 Producers Guild Awards on March 19. The story.  —Into live-action. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse co-director Peter Ramsey making the jump into live-action with Blood Count, a period vampire thriller just scooped up by Paramount. Ramsey wrote the script as a spec and will direct the feature project, which is in early development. LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill is on board to produce. The story.  Kim Masters: CNN's Jeff Zucker Defenders Aren’t Helping the Network ►Are there more shoes to drop? THR's editor-at-large Kim Masters writes that by publicly objecting to Jeff Zucker's removal as CNN chief for failing to disclose a romantic relationship — before knowing the full story — the network's staff are emotionally standing by a beloved boss rather than abiding by journalistic values. The story. —"It was an unfortunate set of circumstances." AT&T CEO John Stankey, who currently oversees WarnerMedia and CNN, and Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who will assume oversight of WarnerMedia and CNN in just a few months, on Friday were grilled about Jeff Zucker’s exit. The two men were interviewed separately by CNBC from the annual AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am golf tournament. The story. —A real survivor. The L Word: Generation Q is returning for a 10-episode third season on Showtime. The news comes months after season two wrapped its run in October with the formal decision arriving after Showtime axed three of its scripted series. The story. —No longer involved. Mary Cosby will not be involved in filming on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City as the Bravo series moves forward with season three. The decision follows controversy surrounding Cosby, including debate over racially insensitive comments she made during the show’s second season, which is currently airing. The story.  Giuliani on 'Masked Singer' Is a New Low for TV Image Laundering ►"Reality TV is the last bastion of the bad tweeter, the near-canceled, the unapologetically non-PC reprobate." Rudy Giuliani apparently was one of this season's first eliminated Masked Singer contestants, prompting a couple of judges to walk off the stage, offended. THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg wonders why this sort of thing keeps happening. The critic's notebook. —New GTA on the way. Rockstar Games gave fans the news they have been waiting years to hear: a new Grand Theft Auto game is in development. Not much was shared about the new installment in the wildly popular video game franchise, but the company said it would have more information sooner rather than later. The story.  —Eh? Julia Garner’s accent in Inventing Anna has already garnered a fair amount of buzz and the Netflix drama hasn’t even debuted yet. With all the questions, Netflix has released a short behind-the-accent video, where Garner explains where the singular lilt sprung from. The story. —Strong start. Jackass Forever started off its domestic box office run with a hearty $1.7 million from Thursday evening previews at 2,560 locations. THR's Pamela McClintock writes the figure is a strong start considering there were hundreds of cinema closures due to a major winter storm that moved through the Midwest. The R-rated film, which will be playing in roughly 3,600 theaters by Friday, is tracking to open in the mid-teens. The story.   —Cinematic masterpiece for a divided America? Jackass Forever is bathing in critical acclaim. Yes, you read that right. The latest installment of the proudly dumb franchise is currently sitting pretty with a 87 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Going a bit deeper, the franchise has steadily been finding favor with critics with each new entry. 2000’s Jackass managed a score of 49 percent, 2006’s Jackass: Number Two garnering a 64 percent and 2010’s Jackass 3 a 66 percent. The story.  Tom Holland on 'Uncharted' and 'No Way Home' Secrets ►"We all embraced each other, and we were all crying because it meant so much to us." THR's Brian Davids spoke to the lovely Tom Holland about his upcoming film, the action-adventure video game adaptation Uncharted. Holland also spoke at length about working with Spider-Man: No Way Home co-stars (and Spidey predocessors) Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. The interview.  —"I want to blow shit up." THR's 'Pistol' Pete Keeley spoke to Marshawn Lynch, the Super Bowl-winning running back who has transitioned to acting in HBO's Westworld and more recently the hilarious Murderville on Netflix. Lynch talks about his acting ambitions and how his time on Running Wild convinced him that all reality TV is not “hella fake.” The interview.  —On saving the planet. THR's James Hibberd spoke to Game of Thrones veteran John Bradley about his new sci-fi film, Roland Emmerich's Moonfall. The Brit actor also discussed reuniting with GoT showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss for Netflix's upcoming Three-Body Problem. The interview.  In other news... —Michael Avenatti convicted of stealing from Stormy Daniels —Instagram defeats suit over embedding feature —West Side Story, Nightmare Alley among SOC camera operators nominees —Penske Media, Rolling Stone acquire Las Vegas’ Life Is Beautiful Festival —Disney streaming: Alisa Bowen upped to evp business operations —Cineplex CEO Ellis Jacob to receive NATO’s Marquee Award —Good Doctor producer Brightlight promotes Arielle Boisvert to partner —iHeartRadio Podcast Awards: You’re Wrong About wins top prize What else we're reading... —Kevin Fallon on why The Worst Person in the World is the best film of the year [Daily Beast] —August Brown on HitPiece, the digital music company artists despise even more than Spotify [LAT] —Chris Molanphy explains why "We Don’t Talk About Bruno" didn’t need to be catchy to get to No. 1 [Slate] —Why the Olympics became a headache for NBC [FT] —Ellen E. Jones profiles Bel-Air star Jabari Banks [Guardian] Today...  Today's birthdays: Laura Linney (58), Adassa (35), Jennifer Jason Leigh (60), Michael Sheen (53), Charlotte Rampling (76), Mia Hansen-Løve (41), David Ladd (75), Jordan Nagai (22), Abhishek Bachchan (46), Michael Mann (79), Henry Golding (35), Esme Creed-Miles (22), Barbara Hershey (74), Christopher Guest (74), Darren Criss (35), Chris Parnell (55), Tom Wilkinson (74), Tim Meadows (61), Tony Jaa (46) This email was sent to facestuffs.aaaaa@blogger.com by Penske Media Corporation. Please add email@email.hollywoodreporter.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. Visit the Preferences Center to update your profile and customize what email alerts and newsletters you receive. Copyright © 2022 The Hollywood Reporter, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. 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