| | | | | | What's news: Smokey Robinson has filed a $500m countersuit against the four women who sued him over sexual assault. Donald Trump has pardoned rapper NBA YoungBoy. Reed Hastings has joined the board of AI giant Anthropic. Mike White will compete in Survivor 50. FX has renewed Welcome to Wrexham. — Abid Rahman
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ADL CEO: Ye's Stunt Exposed Tech Platforms' Antisemitism Problem ►"This moment is made even worse by the backsliding of certain platforms like X and Meta." In a guest column for THR, Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, takes Big Tech to task over the platforming and spread of Kanye "Ye" West's song "Heil Hitler" writing that the protections that were in place several years ago that could have mitigated the reach of something as vile as that song have been dismantled. The column.
—Harmonizing. THR's Ethan Millman and Shirley Halperin have the scoop that girl group Fifth Harmony are in talks to reunite. The reunion would include all of the girl group’s members except for Camila Cabello, who left 5H at the end of 2016. Forming through the TV singing competition The X Factor back in 2012, Fifth Harmony’s original lineup consisted of Cabello, Normani, Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane and Lauren Jauregui. The quintet would go on to become one of the best-selling girl groups of the 2010s, with their albums Reflection and 7/27 both going platinum, according to the RIAA. They nabbed their biggest hit with “Work From Home,” featuring Ty Dolla $ign — which has 1.5b Spotify streams as of this story’s publication — while “Worth It,” featuring Kid Ink, went triple-platinum. The group went on indefinite hiatus in 2018, a year after releasing their third album. The story.
—"The Robinsons did not abuse, harm, or take advantage of Plaintiffs." Smokey Robinson and his wife, Frances Robinson, have filed a $500m countersuit against the four women who sued him earlier this month accusing the music icon of sexual assault. In the cross-complaint, filed on Wednesday by the Robinsons’ attorney, Christopher Frost, and obtained by THR, Robinson accuses the Jane Does of of defamation, slander, intentional infliction of emotional distress, financial elder abuse and invasion of privacy, among other claims. Robinson’s suit come about three weeks after the four anonymous women, who worked for him as housekeepers, sued the famed Motown singer and record producer for sexual assault and rape allegations. The story.
—The latest. A federal judge immediately rejected a defense request for a mistrial on Wednesday at the sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, after his attorneys said prosecutors tried to imply to a jury that the music mogul interfered with the investigation into rapper Kid Cudi‘s firebombed Porsche in 2012. Although such mistrial requests are common during lengthy federal trials involving hundreds of pieces of evidence and dozens of witnesses, this was the first request at Combs’ trial, which is in its third week of testimony in Manhattan. Combs has been active in his defense, regularly writing notes to his lawyers, and they have consulted with him as they questioned witnesses. The story.
—Some good news. Cassie Ventura has welcomed her third child. The singer-actress was reportedly taken to a New York City hospital’s labor and delivery unit on Tuesday. Ventura first announced that she was expecting her third child with husband Alex Fine on Feb. 19, sharing a photo of her with a baby bump alongside Fine and their two daughters. The news comes roughly 10 days after Ventura completed her four-day testimony in Sean Combs’ criminal trial while eight-and-a-half months pregnant. The story.
—Pardoned. Louisiana rapper NBA YoungBoy, who was sentenced to just under two years in prison on gun-related charges, was pardoned by Donald Trump on Wednesday. The rapper is among a number of high-profile people Trump pardoned this week, including a former New York congressman, a labor union leader and reality TV star couple Todd and Julie Chrisley. In 2024, NBA YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, was sentenced by a federal judge in Utah after he acknowledged possessing weapons despite being a convicted felon. He reached an agreement that resolved Utah state charges against him and settled two sets of federal charges against him — one carried a 23-month sentence and the other ordered five years of probation and a $200,000 fine. The story.
—"It’s been an annoyance." Brad Pitt opened up about his personal life becoming tabloid fodder. In a new interview, the Oscar-winner said his personal life, including his high profile split from ex-wife Angelina Jolie, regularly being in the news was an "annoyance" as he tries to focus on filming. “My personal life is always in the news. It’s been in the news for 30 years, bro. Or some version of my personal life, let’s put it that way,” he said. He added of dealing with public attention, "It’s been an annoyance I’ve had to always deal with in different degrees, large and small, as I do the things I really want to do." The story. |
Broadway Sees Highest Grossing Season on Record ►We are so back, baby! Broadway’s 2024-2025 season grossed $1.89b across all productions, marking the highest season on record and a full recovery from the pandemic. The gross totals are up 23 percent from last season, and, significantly, the numbers also come in above the 2018-2019 season, which had held the record for $1.83b in gross revenue and had been the benchmark against which Broadway was measuring its post-pandemic recovery. Broadway first overtook the 2018-2019 season grosses in early May. In the prior two seasons, Broadway grossed $1.54b and $1.58b respectively. The 2019-2020 and 2021–2022 seasons were both shortened due to the pandemic. The 2024-2025 season began May 20, 2024, and ended May 25, 2025. Among the high earners this season, Good Night, and Good Luck yet again broke its own record for highest weekly gross for a play on Broadway, bringing in $4.2m last week. The story.
—🎭 Pawn stars. 🎭 Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher will star in a Broadway revival of Chess this fall. The revival of the musical, which features music by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice, will feature a new book by Dopesick creator Danny Strong. Michael Mayer, who also directed Michele in Spring Awakening and Funny Girl, will direct the production. The revival will take place at a Shubert theater, with the exact dates and theater to be announced at a later date. The production marks the first Broadway revival of the musical, which opened on Broadway in 1988 after debuting in 1986 in the West End. Chess tells the story of a chess tournament between an American and Soviet player, as the two also fight over the woman torn between them. The story.
—📅 All set. 📅 Darren Criss and Renée Elise Goldsberry are co-hosting this year’s Tony Awards preshow. The Tony Awards: Act One is a live show with exclusive content that will stream on Pluto TV on Sunday, June 8 at 6:40-8 p.m. ET/3:40-5 p.m. PT. Immediately after the pre-show, the 78th annual Tony Awards will begin airing on CBS with Tony winner Cynthia Erivo as its host. This year, the ceremony returns to Radio City Music Hall in New York City after it was held at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater. The story. |
Reed Hastings Joins Board of AI Giant Anthropic ►"Commitment to addressing AI’s societal challenges." Netflix’s founder and former CEO Reed Hastings is joining the board of directors of the artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, the creator of the popular Claude AI chatbot. Hastings was appointed by the Long Term Benefit Trust, which has the right to appoint some of Anthropic’s board. Hastings has been laser-focused on the potential and risks of AI, donating $50m to Bowdoin College earlier this year to establish the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity, and will “ensure that students graduate well-prepared to lead in a world reshaped by AI.” The story.
—🤝 Licensing deal. 🤝 In a surprise deal, The New York Times said Thursday that it has struck an AI licensing agreement with the tech giant Amazon, a deal that will bring Times content to the tech giant’s AI-powered devices and services. The agreement will also allow Times content to be used to train Amazon’s proprietary foundation AI models. The agreement covers news editorial, cooking, and The Athletic, and would bring that content to devices such as Alexa. The story.
—"It’s clearly going to have a tremendous creative impact on what people can do." Artificial intelligence has had a big impact on filmmaking, but won’t replace Hollywood writers anytime soon, Imagine Entertainment co-founder Brian Grazer said Wednesday. “No one can point to where AI could produce soul, or life essence, or the best entertainment storytelling. Movies and television usually become memorable because you feel the soul or energy of something that is another dimension,” Grazer, producer and executive chair of the major content producer, told The Wall Street Journal‘s The Future of Everything conference. The story.
—Big hire. Creative Artists Agency has hired Brent Weinstein to serve as part of its senior leadership, overseeing a number of high-profile business areas including digital media, podcasts, games, talent business ventures, and speakers. Weinstein will also be involved in CAA‘s investments and M&A activity. A veteran entertainment executive, Weinstein was most recently chief development officer of Candle Media, the rollup vehicle led by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, which owns or has stakes in companies like Hello Sunshine, Moonbug Entertainment, Westbrook and Faraway Road, among others. The story.
—Back to the mothership. After a two-year stint managing CNN‘s business during a leadership and strategy transition, David Leavy is heading back to his longtime home at parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. The executive had joined as chief operating officer of the cable news network during the short-lived Chris Licht-led era then stepped in to co-lead the brand days later after Licht was fired in June 2023. Leavy, who had spent two decades at Discovery prior to parachuting in to CNN during a moment of uncertainty, will return to the Warners corporate fold in an unspecified role. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Rhode, the lifestyle brand founded in 2022 by model and influencer Hailey Bieber, has agreed to be acquired by e.l.f. Beauty in a blockbuster $1b deal. e.l.f. announced the acquisition Wednesday, with plans to add the fast-growing beauty brand to its stable that already includes e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. SKIN, Keys Soulcare, Naturium, and Well People. Rhode had total sales of $212m in the year ended March 31, 2025, the companies say, and the products will launch in Sephora later this year. The deal is comprised of a $600m cash payment, $200m in shares of e.l.f. stock to Rhode’s existing equityholders, and a $200m earnout that would be payable over three years based on hitting performance goals. The story. |
'White Lotus' Creator Mike White to Compete on 'Survivor' ►In it to win it. The White Lotus creator Mike White is set to return for Survivor 50. The Emmy-winning writer and director, who competed on the reality show's David vs. Goliath season in 2018 and finished second, will be back to help the CBS franchise mark its 50th anniversary alongside 23 other returning players. White has long said he’s had an obsession with reality TV — he also appeared on The Amazing Race in 2009 — and previously told The New Yorker back in 2021 that his appearance on the CBS show was not meant to be ironic or a stunt. The story.
—Welcome to Necaxa. FX has renewed sports docuseries Welcome to Wrexham for a fifth season, as well as revealed new details about its spinoff series Necaxa, a partnership with Disney+ Latin America. The fifth season following Welsh soccer team Wrexham AFC, owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney since 2020, was a total no-brainer. Season five will show the club’s upcoming debut in the EFL Championship after an incredible third consecutive promotion. For Necaxa, Reynolds and McElhenney are joined by their third partner in the Aguascalientes, Mexico-based Club Necaxa, Eva Longoria. Necaxa will chronicle “a turbulent and transformational era at the storied Mexican football club and the steadfast supporters who never give up hope arrives this summer,” according to FX. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Apple TV+'s The Morning Show will be making a fall return. Season four of the Emmy-winning series starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon will release Sept. 17. The 10-episode season launches that Wednesday, with the first episode, followed by a weekly Friday release through Nov. 19. The fourth season will again time jump to open nearly two years after the events of season three and, along with news of the return date, the drama has released a handful of first-look photos to tease both the new and returning cast. The story.
—Lovely jubbly. The Real Housewives of London, the first-ever original series from NBCUniversal's non-U.S. reality TV streamer Hayu, has unveiled its cast. The cast members for the latest installment in the popular franchise are: Chicago-born lifestyle blogger Juliet Angus; model turned entrepreneur Amanda Cronin; former cast member of The Real Housewives of Jersey (not, New Jersey!) Karen Loderick-Peace; Australian former Miss Galaxy Universe Juliet Mayhew; Iran-born socialite Panthea Parker; and former investment banker turned cake impressario Nessie Welschinger. The story.
—Dipping. The season two finale of The Last of Us brought in a smaller first-night audience than either the season premiere in March or its first season finale in 2023. The season finale drew 3.7m viewers on HBO and Max on its first night, down from 5.3m for the season premiere in April. It’s also well short of the 8.2m viewers for the close of the first season in February 2023. Some of the decline for the May 25 episode may be due to the fact that it debuted on the Memorial Day weekend, when viewing levels are typically lower than normal. The ratings. |
TV Review: 'Adults' ►"Incredible chemistry, less incredible jokes." THR's Angie Han reviews FX's Adults. Five 20-something best friends navigate the ups and downs of young adulthood, from dinner parties to job interviews to romantic woes, while living together in Queens. Starring Malik Elassal, Lucy Freyer, Jack Innanen, Amita Rao and Owen Thiele. The review.
—"This Sister should be much better." THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg reviews Amazon Prime Video's The Better Sister. Based on the novel by Alafair Burke, the eight-episode Olivia Milch-created thriller centers on two estranged siblings who are brought back together by a murder in the family. Starring Jessica Biel, Elizabeth Banks, Corey Stoll, Maxwell Acee Donovan, Gabriel Sloyer, Kim Dickens, and Bobby Naderi. The review.
—"Solid mystery, great ensemble, ample ongoing potential." Daniel reviews Netflix's Dept. Q. Co-created by Scott Frank (The Queen's Gambit) and based on the books by Jussi Adler-Olsen, the crime procedural drama centers on a traumatized misanthrope solving cold cases with a team of misfits. Starring Matthew Goode, Kelly Macdonald, Chloe Pirrie, Alexej Manvelov, Leah Byrne, Jamie Sives and Kate Dickie. The review.
In other news...
—Keanu Reeves is a sad guardian angel in Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune trailer
—Guillermo del Toro to host Canadian Horror Film Festival
—Ed Gale, Chucky and Howard the Duck actor, dies at 61
—Brian Avnet, longtime artist manager and music executive, dies at 82
What else we're reading...
—Thomas Hobbs looks at how Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP sent shockwaves through the '00s [BBC]
—Ben Smith and Reed Albergotti talk to Jonathan Nolan about how his shows Person of Interest and Westworld predicted and conceptualized AI [Semafor]
—Rebecca Jennings forensically breaks down an Alex Cooper interview, providing clues as to why the Call Me Daddy podcaster has become so prominent [Vulture]
—Gregory Korte, Jennifer A Dlouhy, and Dana Hull report that oligarch Elon Musk is departing his government role with his business empire in flux [Bloomberg]
—With the return of Duck Dynasty imminent, critic James Poniewozik writes that the reality show is coming back to a very different America [NYT]
Today...
...in 1992, Touchstone Pictures unveiled the Whoopi Goldberg comedy Sister Act in theaters, where it went on to be a summer hit and grossed $139m stateside, not adjusted for inflation. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Annette Bening (67), Laverne Cox (53), Riley Keough (36), Maika Monroe (32), Laila Lockhart Kraner (17), Rupert Everett (66), Anders Holm (44), Mitchell Hurwitz (62), Ted Levine (68), Alessandra Torresani (38), Park Ji-hoon (26), Justin Chon (44), Erica Lindbeck (33), Michael O'Neill (74), Noah Reid (38), Adrian Paul (66), Debra Stipe (63), Zulay Henao (46), Diana Lee Inosanto (59), Lisa Whelchel (62), Gregg Sulkin (33), Julie Cobb (78), Aaron McGruder (51), Aníta Briem (43), Crystal Balint (44), Tracey E. Bregman (62), Saori Hayami (34), Rory Albanese (48), Pearl Mackie (38), McNally Sagal (66), Jay Paulson (47), Paloma Kwiatkowski (31), Nevis Unipan (17), Anthony Azizi (52), Aura Garrido (36), Brandon Mychal Smith (36), Anthony Geary (78), Daniel Tosh (50), Lorelei Linklater (31), Nick Mancuso (77) |
| Ena Hartman, a pioneering Black actress who had a regular role opposite Burt Reynolds on the 1970-71 ABC cop show Dan August, has died. She was 93. The obituary. |
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