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What's news: Protests hit the Met Gala as Jeff Bezos avoided the red carpet. Kid Cudi dropped M.I.A. from his tour after the singer's right wing rant. Britney Spears pleaded guilty to reckless driving. Bob Greenblatt is returning to NBCU via a first-look TV deal. Fox has canceled Going Dutch. And CBS' Tracker will relocate production to L.A. for S4 after securing a massive $48m tax credit. — Abid Rahman
Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at tips@thr.com. |
Lively, Baldoni Settle Lawsuit Ahead of Trial►🤝 It finally ends. 🤝 After years of legal wrangling, Blake Lively has settled a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni over sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us. The two sides issued on Monday a joint statement announcing the deal. Terms weren’t disclosed. "The end product – the movie It Ends With Us – is a source of pride to all of us who worked to bring it to life," they said. "Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors – and all survivors – is a goal that we stand behind." With the deal, Lively and Baldoni avert a trial in a case that has captivated Hollywood and sparked a labyrinthine web of lawsuits over the shooting and public relations machinations behind It Ends With Us. The story.
—Making "great progress." Paramount reported year-over-year growth in both revenue and adjusted EBITDA as CEO David Ellison and his team seek to remake the company they acquired late last summer. At the same time, the company also says that it is “making great progress” on its deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, with a late Q3 target close still on track. Paramount reported its Q1 earnings Monday, with revenue of $7.35b, up 2 percent year-over-year, operating income of $616m. Paramount+ was the big driver, with 17 percent growth year-over-year and subscribers growing by 700,000 even after accounting for a one million hit from the loss of a hard bundle. The results.
—🤝 Carriage deal. 🤝 YouTube TV and Byron Allen‘s Allen Media Group have renewed their carriage deal, ensuring that The Weather Channel and other AMG networks will stay on YouTube’s multichannel service. Separately, Allen Media Group has closed a deal to sell a number of its local over-the-air stations to Gray Television, after announcing the transaction in late March. The long-term agreement with YouTube TV includes Comedy.TV, Justice Central and Recipe.TV as well as The Weather Channel. Allen’s free streaming service Local Now will also continue to be available to YouTube TV subscribers. The story. |
Hollywood CEO Pay Revealed►The great divide. Hollywood really is a larger-than-life version of corporate America, especially in the C-suite. Across all U.S. industries, median CEO pay hit $29.4m in 2025, data firm Equilar finds. But for top entertainment execs, that’s on the low end, per THR's annual look at the highest-paid media chiefs. Many of the moguls on our list made around $50m. Or much more. Not only that, but the employee-to-CEO pay ratio is higher in entertainment. The analysis.
—Upped. Lionsgate has promoted Amanda Kozlowski as the new president of worldwide marketing in its Motion Picture Group. Kozlowski was already interim head of marketing and, as an 18-year veteran of the studio, worked closely with Adam Fogelson, chair of the film group. She most recently worked on the campaign strategy for releases like The Housemaid, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, The Long Walk and Michael, with the latter having earned $424m and counting at the worldwide box office. The story.
—"This is not a normal closure-related layoff." IATSE has filed unfair labor practice charges against the Kennedy Center after the layoff of two departments of workers ahead of the closure of the arts institution. The union for theatrical stage employees says that the Kennedy Center is violating its union contract by laying off or terminating all workers in its Instant Charge and Group Sales and Subscription departments, effective April 27, rather than meeting its legal obligation to bargain over the impact of the temporary closure. Management also confirmed it will not replace the workers, according to IATSE. Twenty five workers were impacted. The story
—I have a good feeling about this. Aptly on May the 4th, the official Star Wars holiday, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art revealed the name and teased details of its first Star Wars installation. Titled Star Wars in Motion, and part of the inaugural Cinema exhibition, the presentation will focus on the many modes of transportation, from the wide range of high-speed racers to hulking transport vehicles to flying vessels, from the first six films of George Lucas’ sci-fi fantasy saga. The story. |
Tony Award Nominations 2026►🏆 Congrats to all! 🏆 The Lost Boys and Schmigadoon! led the Tony nominations Tuesday with 12 nods a piece. Both are new musicals, with The Lost Boys based on the 1987 campy vampire thriller film, and Schmigadoon! based on the Apple TV series parodying Golden Age musicals. Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Ragtime and The Rocky Horror Show all received nominations for best revival of a musical, while Chess missed out. Among the Hollywood names receiving nods were Daniel Radcliffe, Rose Bryne, Nathan Lane, John Lithgow, Carrie Coon and Alden Ehrenreich. Pink will host the 79th Annual Tony Awards on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall. The nominees.
—Snubs, surprises and shutouts. In one of the most shocking takeaways from the Tony noms , the starry revival of Proof, starring Don Cheadle and Ayo Edebiri, was completely shut out. Beaches, The Musical was also entirely shut out. Another big surprise came as Lea Michele did not receive a Tony nomination for her role in Chess. The Fear of 13 received nominations for sound and lighting design, but did not receive a nom for the important best play award. The snubs.
—No such thing as cancel culture. Scott Rudin was nominated for two Tonys Tuesday, in a big showing for his return to the industry after being exiled roughly five years ago. Rudin received nominations as the lead producer on the revival of Death of A Salesman, which received nine nominations total, and a nomination for Little Bear Ridge Road. The mega producer returns to the top of the industry after a 2021 THR report detailed multiple claims from his former employees of bullying and behavior that included verbal abuse as well as throwing objects at staff. The story.
—Bess week ever. As well as Tony nom for best play on Tuesday, Bess Wohl’s Liberation won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama on Monday. The play, which ran at the James Earl Jones Theatre on Broadway from October 2025 through February 2026, follows a narrator trying to make sense of the female liberation group her mother took part in the 1970s. The show transferred to Broadway after premiering Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre in February 2025. The story.
—Fire damage. The Broadway theater that houses The Book of Mormon caught fire Monday morning, with fire officials describing it as a three-alarm fire. NYFD received a call of a report of fire at 10:03 a.m. Monday at 230 West 49th, with 63 units since responding to the scene, consisting of 192 fireman and EMS workers. The production says the building was cleared safely of personnel. One firefighter was injured while responding to the blaze. The production has canceled its performances on May 5 and May 6, but has not yet said long they expect the theater to be closed. The story. |
Kid Cudi Drops M.I.A. From Tour After Right Wing Rant►"I wont have someone on my tour making offensive remarks that upsets my fanbase." Kid Cudi has dropped M.I.A. as the opener for his ongoing tour, the hip-hop act announced on Monday, days after the singer had made viral controversial comments about conservatism and illegal immigration during her performance over the weekend. M.I.A. picked up flack after comments she made during a tour stop at the Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas, where according to fans in attendance who posted about it on Reddit, she spoke about how “I never thought i would be cancelled for being a brown republican voter.” According to a fan-captured video, she also talked about how she “can’t do ‘illegal,'” referring to her song, then saying “though some of you could be in the audience.” The story.
—Guilty. Britney Spears has pleaded guilty to reckless driving in her DUI case and is avoiding jail time as the pop icon will instead face a year of probation. Spears didn’t attend court in Ventura County on Monday, and her lawyer, Michael A. Goldstein, appeared on her behalf to state her plea. The singer agreed to a plea called “wet reckless,” in which the defendant can plead guilty and be put on probation instead. The plea comes weeks after Spears was first arrested over the incident in March. In April, Spears entered rehab voluntarily. The story.
—"I'm improving everyday." Dolly Parton has canceled her Las Vegas residency again amid ongoing health struggles. The 10-time Grammy Award winner took to Instagram on Monday to announce the news, while also sharing an update on her health. "Well hey there, it’s Dolly, and I am here to give you an update on a few things going on in my life. First, it’s concerning my health, and I have some good news and a little bad news. But the good news is, I’m responding really well to meds and treatments, and I’m improving everyday," she said in the clip. The story. |
Greenblatt Returns to NBCU With First-Look Deal►🤝 Going home. 🤝 Bob Greenblatt is returning to NBCUniversal via a first-look deal with Universal Television. Greenblatt was NBC Entertainment chairman until September 2018. The reunion comes through Greenblatt’s The Green Room production company, and the first project under the pact will be The Lies I Tell, an adaptation of the 2022 Julie Clark novel. Ken Olin will be the lead executive producer; Clark, Jon Wu and Roxanne Olin will EP the project as well. The story.
—Discharged. Fox has canceled the series Going Dutch, which stars Denis Leary as a U.S. Army colonel assigned to the least strategic base in the world, after two seasons. The show’s final episode aired on April 23. With the cancellation, Fox currently has just one live-action, half-hour comedy on its slate for 2026-27. The network renewed Animal Control, starring Joel McHale, for a fifth season back in February. Going Dutch was something of a surprise renewal last season after putting up modest ratings. That continued to be the case in 2025-26. The story
—On the move. CBS‘ Tracker will be looking for missing people in a new locale in the 2026-27 season. The series, one of the most watched on TV, will relocate production to Los Angeles for its fourth season. The show, produced by Disney’s 20th Television, filmed in Vancouver for its first three seasons. The move was helped by a record $48m tax credit from the California Film Commission. The credit was awarded in March, though Tracker wasn’t identified as the recipient at that time. The story.
—Big thumbs down for the sequel trilogy. Which Star Wars movies and TV shows are the most popular on streaming? Some new data from Nielsen reveals some surprising results. The first thing that stands out is that the biggest chunk of viewing time, 44 percent, were fans watching live-action Star Wars movies compared to 39 percent watching live-action series and 17 percent watching animated shows. The most-streamed title in 2025 was the excellent series Andor and the most streamed films are A New Hope, The Phantom Menace and The Empire Strikes Back. The story. |
Will 'Michael 2' Instensify Divide Between Fans and Critics? ►"I do think the critical response seems a bit disingenuous." With talk ramping up about a second Michael Jackson biopic, the star’s fans continue to push back against some professional critics over the way that the current Lionsgate movie makes them feel. THR's Ryan Gajewski talks to experts who see a further polarization ahead if producers push forward with a sequel. The analysis.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Paramount has set a return to the world of Longlegs. The feature will bow on Jan. 14, 2028, the studio revealed Monday. Osgood Perkins is back to write and direct the new movie, with star Nicolas Cage returning. The film is not exactly a sequel, but described as something in the Longlegs universe. Released in July 2024, the first film established Perkins as a name brand horror filmmaker, with the project grossing $128m worldwide on a budget of less than $10m. Neon released the first movie, with its marketing campaign cited as a blueprint for how to build anticipation for a spooky movie. The story.
—AI-assisted... James Lamont and Jon Foster, the screenwriting duo whose credits include Paddington in Peru and Cartoon Network’s The Amazing World of Gumball, have teamed up for the script to Critterz, a new A.I.-assisted animated feature, which will be pitching to buyers at the upcoming Cannes Film Market. Nik Kleverov, co-founder of A.I. production studio Native Foreign, is directing as well as producing Critterz together with Chad Nelson, a creative strategist at OpenAI, and Allan Niblo and James Richardson of London-based Vertigo Films. The story. |
Cannes Jury Set ►Elite. The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled its 2026 competition jury, a nine-person globe-spanning mix of auteurs, actors and writers tasked with choosing this year’s Palme d’Or winner. As previously announced, South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook will serve as president, joining him on the jury are Demi Moore, Isaach De Bankolé, Laura Wandel, Paul Laverty, Stellan Skarsgård, Ruth Negga, Diego Céspedes and Chloé Zhao. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Mubi has snatched up rights across multiple international territories for Hope, the new sci-fi action thriller from South Korean director Na Hong-Ji, which will premiere in the Cannes competition lineup later this month. The company will announce its theatrical release plans for the film in the coming months. After the theatrical bow, the film will move to Mubi’s streaming platform. Hope is set in Hope Harbor, a remote village near the DMZ separating North and South Korea. News that a tiger has appeared sets the village in panic, but with the local police chief investigating, he finds an even more shocking reality. The story.
—All set. The filmmaker behind SLC Punk! is going back to his roots for a forthcoming music-focused movie. James Merendino is set to write and direct Gasoline, a feature set in the world of 1990s punk rock. Principal photography is expected to commence this August. The story is based on real events involving the band Eight Buck Experiment, whose founder Evan O’Meara also produces the indie film. Gasoline centers on a young singer who, strapped for cash and struggling to maintain his sobriety, pushes his teenage brothers to hop into the family’s van and spend their summer performing chaotic shows across the country. The story. |
The Met Gala 2026 ►Fashion's biggest night. The Met Gala took place on Monday night at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The 2026 gala’s dress code was “Fashion Is Art,” a nod to the exhibition Costume Art, organized by the museum’s Costume Institute. As ever THR's Laura Tucker and Laurie Brookins have picked out the best and most interesting looks from the hundreds of stars who strutted their stuff on the steps of the Met. The red carpet looks.
—Honoring the dress code. Laurie Brookins picks out some select looks from the likes of Sam Smith, Sabrina Carpenter and Rosé that really understood the assignment on Monday night. The knockout looks.
—Inside the gala. Following a lively celeb-filled red carpet, THR went inside the Met Gala itself. Guests must abide by the event’s no-phone policy once inside the museum, but here some of the top moments from this year's event, including performances from Sabrina Carpenter and Stevie Nicks. The recap.
—Not Meryl's thing. This year, it seems Miranda Priestly‘s assistants, old and new, went to the 2026 Met Gala, but the Runway editor-in-chief was a no-show. Though the iconic Meryl Streep wasn’t in attendance on Monday (she’s been invited many times over the years but had always declined, as it’s “never quite been her scene,” her rep previously said), The Devil Wears Prada 2 stars Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt, aka “the Emilys,” came out in full force. Miranda’s new first assistant in the newly released sequel — Simone Ashley, who plays Amari — also made an appearance. The story. |
Lauren Sánchez Walks Carpet Without Jeff Bezos Amid Backlash
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Telling. Lauren Sánchez Bezos arrived at the Met Gala on Monday night sans her very notable plus one. Jeff Bezos did not walk the iconic Met steps at this year’s event, despite the fact that he and his wife are honorary chairs for fashion‘s biggest night. There has been public pushback in recent weeks surrounding the Bezos’ involvement in the Met Gala, as critics accused the billionaire of buying influence with the major event and speculation swirled that some stars may boycott the event due to his involvement. The story.
—The Bezos effect. With all of the action on the Met Gala carpet, there was just as much going on right outside of its entrance. Midway through the stream of stars strutting up the iconic Met steps, a protester nearly crashed the carpet, getting as close as the pit of photographers before they were tackled by a number of police officers. The protester’s signs were also ripped out of their hand and thrown behind a barricade. Plenty of other protests also took place further away from The Met entrance, as protesters gathered with signs that read, “billionaires for a dead planet,” “tax the rich” and “with billionaires in charge, POTUS is a pedophile, rapist and traitor.” The story.
More from the Met Gala...
—Blake Lively makes Met Gala return, hours after settling It Ends With Us suit
—Bad Bunny looks sly as a silver fox
—Beyoncé wows in glitzy Olivier Rousteing-designed dress
—Teyana Taylor stuns in silver
—Rihanna shines bright like a diamond
—Blackpink gals reunite as Lisa, Rosé, Jennie and Jisoo all attend for first time
—Heidi Klum goes stone cold
—Katy Perry sports chrome full face mask
—Lena Dunham and Nicole Kidman sport similar sequin looks
In other news...
The Odyssey trailer: Matt Damon heads home to rescue Anne Hathaway from Robert Pattinson
—Dominic Sessa is a young adventure-seeking Anthony Bourdain in A24’s Tony trailer
—Tina Fey and grieving friends holiday in Italy in The Four Seasons S2 trailer
—Darren Aronofsky to receive Locarno's honorary Leopard award
—John Sterling, fabled Yankees play-by-play announcer, dies at 87
What else we're reading...
—Dean Seal writes that the collapse of Spirit Airlines means higher air fares for everyone [WSJ]
—Max Tani looks at how the Fox News neocon hawks got back in Trump’s good graces and are pushing him towards more war [Semafor]
—Following an in-depth investigation, Neil Mehta, Katherine Long and Caitlin Ostroff write that only a very small number of accounts on Polymarket and Kalsh make money [WSJ]
—Aditya Kalra, Munsif Vengattil and Amlan Chakraborty report that greed from FIFA (surprise!) means fans in China and India may not be able to see the World Cup [Reuters]
—Hanna Flint considers how TV shows like Euphoria and Margo's got Money Troubles tackle the issue of women doing OnlyFans [BBC]
Today...
...in 2017, Marvel Studios released James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in theaters. The superhero sequel was a huge hit with critics and fans, scoring $869m at the global box office. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Chase Infiniti (26), Henry Cavill (43), Lance Henriksen (86), John Rhys-Davies (🏴82), Vincent Kartheiser (47), Richard E. Grant (69), Danielle Fishel (45), Kurt Sutter (66), Michael Palin (83), Zach McGowan (46), Lisa Eilbacher (70), Santiago Cabrera (48), Clark Duke (41), Virginie Efira (49), Jenna Davis (22), Jessie Cave (39), Melinda Culea (71), Marc Alaimo (84), Kurt Loder (81), Mark McKenna (30), Takehito Koyasu (59), Gabrielle Nevaeh (21), Tina Yothers (53), Justin Kuritzkes (36), Rebeccah Bush (58), Samantha Cope (39), Nicholas Guest (75), Jesse Wolfe (59), Marion Bailey (75), Don Benjamin (39), Brendan Bradley (43), Ellie Gall (30), Peter Howitt (69), Anna Bergman (78), Bobby Coleman (29), Dylan Tays (55)
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Mike Stenson, the longtime president of Jerry Bruckheimer Films who helped bring five Pirates of the Caribbean features, three Bad Boys movies and Top Gun: Maverick to the big screen, has died. He was 65. The obituary.
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