| | | | | | What's news: Casey Wasserman has pulled out of Telemundo’s Playmakers event. The Super Bowl averaged 124.93m viewers. Jill Zarin has been fired from a E! reality show over her Bad Bunny comments. Britney Spears has sold off some of her rights tied to her catalog. And Universal has closed deals with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz for The Mummy 4. — Abid Rahman
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Inside the Secret Smear Machine Targeting Hollywood ►"A clandestine cottage industry of creating false smear websites and social media accounts targeting their adversaries and those of their clients." THR's Gary Baum has uncovered a shadowy network of anonymous slander sites that attacking players in high-profile entertainment scandals — from Blake vs. Baldoni to a Rebel Wilson film fiasco to an ugly K-pop feud. Critics allege they’re all the handiwork of a small circle of operatives. The investigation.
—Pressure builds. Casey Wasserman will no longer participate in Telemundo’s Playmakers event in Los Angeles this week. The mogul, who serves as CEO of Wasserman and as chairperson and president of the LA28 Olympic committee, was set to headline the event, scheduled for Feb. 12. Wasserman’s exit from the event comes amid fallout over his suggestive emails with Ghislaine Maxwell coming to light following the release of a trove of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. The situation has led to artists represented by his firm to speak out, denounce and cut ties over his association with Maxwell. The story.
—Isle of Wight's finest. Dame Donna Langley, chair of NBCUniversal Entertainment, will receive the BAFTA Fellowship at the EE BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday, Feb. 22. The BAFTA Fellowship is the British Academy’s highest honor, recognizing “outstanding and exceptional” contributions to film, games or television. The story.
—New faces. The Peabody Awards have added six people — five from the TV industry and one from the media business — to its board of directors. Amazon MGM Studios global head of TV Peter Friedlander; Sony Pictures TV president Katherine Pope; A24 partner and global head of TV Ravi Nandan; and North Road company president of television Amy Israel will all serve on the awards’ West Coast board. CNN Worldwide executive vp Amy Entelis and New York Times managing editor Carolyn Ryan will join the East Coast board for the Peabodys. The story. |
FBI Releases Surveillance Photos and Video of Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping ►New images. The FBI has put out six surveillance photos and two videos of a potential suspect in the kidnapping of Savannah Guthrie‘s mother, Nancy Guthrie. The images and footage depict a person in a jacket, ski mask and gloves, wearing a backpack and with a firearm in the waist. The individual appears to be tampering with Nancy Guthrie’s Nest surveillance cameras. In a video, the person first tries to block the doorbell camera lens with a glove, and later with flowers found just off the porch. The story.
—The latest. A person who had been detained for questioning related to the abduction of Nancy Guthrie has been released, various media outlets reported early on Wednesday. Last night, Pima County Sheriff’s Department deputies detained a subject in connection to the Nancy Guthrie investigation during a traffic stop south of Tucson. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI’s Evidence Response Team also said they were conducting a court-authorized search Tuesday night at a location in Rio Rico, Arizona, that’s related to the Guthrie investigation. The story.
—Fired. Jill Zarin will no longer be appearing in E!‘s recently greenlit reality series The Golden Life, which is set to star a few of the original Real Housewives of New York City. Her removal from the cast comes following comments Zarin shared about Bad Bunny‘s Super Bowl Halftime Show. The former Housewife shared critiques for his performance in a since-deleted video, calling it “the worst halftime show ever,” continuing to slam the show for featuring mostly Spanish songs and "no white people." The story.
—"We may never talk again." Bill Maher has opened up about a falling out with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, admitting that a disagreement that jeopardized their friendship late last year has led him to believe the two will never speak again. Maher was speaking with comic Adam Carolla on his Club Random podcast when the beef with Kimmel came up. “Jimmy Kimmel, you know, he’s very mad at me and I know you’re close to him,” Maher told Carolla, who co-hosted The Man Show with Kimmel from 1999 to 2004. “I hope you tell him that I’m sorry that it got bent out of shape. I don’t think I did anything wrong. We can have disagreements. I mean, you and I don’t agree on everything — look at this clash now — and yet we’re cool.” The story. |
Paramount Going All In on 'TMNT' ►Cowabunga! Paramount Skydance is going all in on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, marshaling forces to bring the comic-turned-toy brand-turned-media IP to not just the big-screen, but digital screen, book stores, and even the dinner table. It’s a major effort that hits several age demographics at once, Paramount is fully exploiting turtle power on a level not seen since it acquired the rights from co-creator Peter Laird in 2009. Launching this year is Teeny Mutant Ninja Turtles, a 30-episode CG-animated series. Hitting two different demos on the bookstore front will be Scholastic's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splinter’s Dojo and Abrams' The Last Ronin . Paramount also announced on Tuesday a global, multi-year licensing agreement with Mattel to develop and market a wide range of products. And the company said it will be open up TMNT-themed pizzerias in three locations. The story.
—🤝 Catalog sale. 🤝 Britney Spears has sold off some of her rights tied to her catalog to music company Primary Wave. With the deal, Spears sells off a stake in one of the most iconic catalogs in modern pop music, which includes hits like “Oops! … I Did It Again!,” “… Baby One More Time,” “Gimme More,” “Circus” and “Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman.” Currently unknown is how much Primary Wave spent on the rights, but reports suggest it was comparable to Justin Bieber’s $200m sale back in 2023. The story.
—🤝 Bundles, innit. 🤝 Sky and Disney have inked a multi-year deal in the U.K. and Ireland. The new agreement will see Disney+ Standard with Ads included in eligible Sky TV packages from March 2026. It means Sky customers will be able to enjoy all of the studio’s iconic stories including from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Lucasfilm, including the recently released The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Andor. Sky Cinema subscribers will also get exclusive access to a new Disney+ Cinema linear channel. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Red Seat Ventures has acquired another company as it ramps up its podcasting efforts. The Fox podcasting arm has acquired subscription platform Supercast, which allows creators to work with one company on both advertising and subscription monetization. Supercast, which was founded in 2019, will continue to operate autonomously under founder and CEO Jason Sew Hoy. The acquisition comes after Red Seat’s own acquisition by Fox’s Tubi Media Group in February 2025. Red Seat produces audio and video podcasts for talent such as Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson, Bill O’Reilly, Dr. Phil, Piers Morgan and Nancy Grace. The story. |
Super Bowl LX Falls Just Shy of All-Time Ratings Record ►Woof! The 60th Super Bowl drew, as usual, a gigantic audience — but it had to settle for coming in just behind last year’s record-setting telecast. NBC and Peacock’s telecast of Super Bowl LX — a lopsided, 29-13 victory for the Seattle Seahawks over the New England Patriots — averaged 124.93m viewers, based on Nielsen’s final same-day ratings (the numbers also include Telemundo’s Spanish language broadcast and streaming on other NBCUniversal and NFL digital outlets). That’s off a scant 2 percent from Super Bowl LIX in 2025, which set an all-time U.S. audience record of 127.71m viewers across Fox, Tubi, Telemundo and NFL digital properties.
NBC did set an all-time record for peak viewership, with 137.8m viewers from 7:45-8 p.m. ET, during the game’s second quarter. The halftime show starring Bad Bunny scored higher than the game as a whole with 128.2m viewers, also down a bit (4 percent) from the 133.5m viewers for Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance a year ago.
The halftime show racked up huge numbers on social media, recording a total of 4b views (with a “view” meaning anything from one to 30 seconds of watch time, depending on the platform) in 24 hours. That’s more than double the total from last year’s show, based on data from Ripple Analytics. The ratings. |
The Berlin Hot List ►Ich kann es kaum erwarten! The 76th Berlin Film Festival and European Film Market is almost upon us. THR's Scott "Unc" Roxborough writes that as the first major movie market of the year, Berlin’s EFM is a barometer of indie industry sentiment and international purchasing power. Much is made of one-off deals out of Sundance, but the volume of global pre-sales signed at Berlin’s Grand Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton, and Adlon hotel suites every February dwarfs even the biggest domestic deals. Ahead of the Berlinale getting underway on Thursday, Scott has the hottest titles for sale at EFM. The list.
—Air Spud was right there! A forthcoming documentary film is set to focus on Spud Webb, who became an NBA sensation in the 1980s for his impressive athleticism despite his short stature. Director Dylan Mulick has wrapped production on the feature Fly: Spud Webb. The project is set to hit the market later this year, with the news coming ahead of this weekend’s NBA All-Star Game. Fly: Spud Webb centers on the titular athlete, who was drafted into the NBA in 1985 and went on to play for four teams in a professional career that spanned more than a decade. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the 5-foot-7-inch player, who was then a member of the Atlanta Hawks, winning the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest as its shortest competitor ever. The story.
—🎭 Give love a try. 🎭 Nick Jonas has been cast to star in Bodyman, a new action-thriller being introduced to buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market this week. Homefront and Runaway Jury director Gary Fleder will helm from a screenplay by Byron Balasco. Principal photography is set to begin in June 2026. Bodyman centers on a violent power struggle that unfolds during a family Christmas gathering after an eccentric billionaire unexpectedly transfers control of his private military company to his longtime bodyguard, played by Jonas, instead of to his adult children. The decision triggers a fight for survival at the family’s remote estate. The story. |
Ariela Barer Replaces Odessa A'zion in A24's 'Deep Cuts' ►🎭 "A genuine major shoutout to @odessaazion for always leading with integrity and being an absolute real one for as long as I’ve known her." 🎭 The Last of Us actress Ariela Barer will star in Sean Durkin‘s Deep Cuts, replacing Odessa A’zion following backlash to her original casting. Barer will portray Zoe Gutierrez, a character featured in Holly Brickley’s 2023 novel, which the film is based on. In the book, Zoe is described as half Mexican and half Jewish, which sparked controversy when A’zion was first cast in the role. The Marty Supreme star announced she was dropping out of the A24 film in late January. She explained that she “hadn’t read the book” and originally went after the role of music critic Percy, which will be played by Cailee Spaeny opposite Drew Starkey. The story.
—📅 It's happening! 📅 Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz have a date with The Mummy. After months of negotiations, Universal has closed deals for the pair to star in a new installment of the studio’s turn-of-the-century action horror comedy. The film is being directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, also known as Radio Silence. And with deals finally closed, Universal has also set a release date for the feature, announcing a May 19, 2028, wide opening. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it is known that the actors will return to their roles of Rick and Evelyn O’Connell. Fraser led the trio of movies made between 1999 and 2008, while Weisz starred in the first two. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Magnolia Pictures has picked up the U.S. rights to Gregg Araki‘s I Want Your Sex, which stars Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman. Magnolia said it prevailed with a competitive seven-figure price tag for the 12th film from the New Queer Cinema pioneer. The specialty distributor is planning a major theatrical release in 2026. I Want Your Sex has Wilde starring as Erika Tracy, an artist and provocateur who taps Elliot (Hoffman) for a job and to be her sexual partner, after which he quickly finds himself in over his head. The story. |
'Seven Kingdoms' Boss Admits One Change From Book Was a "Mistake" ►"Not my first not my last [mistake] on this show." HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been getting heaps of praise from fans online. The Game of Thrones prequel’s most recent fourth episode is being called the show’s best yet. With a 9.7 rating on IMDB, it stands as the highest-rated episode in the franchise since GoT season seven’s “The Spoils of War.” One factor that fans have seized on is the show’s faithfulness to author George R.R. Martin‘s source material (something that was extremely important to Martin as well). But showrunner Ira Parker admitted Tuesday he made one mistake in adapting the material. The story.
—"Olivia’s massive and booming following is a testament to how magnetic this content is and how well it captures the zeitgeist." If the stakes in Olivia Ferney‘s social media videos aren’t high enough for you, Fifth Season is set to dramatize the ultra-luxury travel concierge’s fancy — and stressful — life. Fifth Season will develop a scripted series based on five-star travel business Top Tier Travel, led by Ferney, its chief marketing officer, and founder Troy Arnold. Ferney has about 1.5m followers across Instagram and TikTok; the travelwithlivii channels take us normies behind the scenes of Ferney’s work as “a concierge for billionaire clients.” The story. |
Oscar Nominees Luncheon 2026 ►"No awards season event offers better people-watching than this one." A year after catastrophic wildfires forced the cancellation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ annual Oscar Nominees Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton (it was later rescheduled as a dinner at the Academy Museum), the star-studded event returned — in a big way — to its traditional home on Tuesday. THR's Scott Feinberg was there along with two hundred and thirty nominees — among them Steven Spielberg, Emma Stone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Hudson and Timothée Chalamet. The recap.
In other news...
—Charli xcx keeps a secret from her boyfriend in Erupcja trailer
—Werner Herzog documents a biologist’s obsessive quest in trailer for Ghost Elephants
—Amy Madigan to receive top honor from Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild
—Lainey Wilson, Charley Crockett get showcases at SXSW
—Noah Wyle named ICG Publicists’ Television Showperson of the Year
—Julia Buchwald, Ryan Martin take leadership roles at namesake talent agency
—Fremantle adds Jhamal Robinson, Emily Knight to TV executive team
What else we're reading...
—With all the controversy over Jacob Elordi's casting in Wuthering Heights, Jasmine Vojdani investigates whether Heathcliff is white [Vulture]
—Jon Allsop reports on short-lived FBI No. 2 Dan Bongino’s return to podcasting [New Yorker]
—Kase Wickman reflects on why the Lindbergh baby kidnapping case still haunts America after nearly 100 years [Vanity Fair]
—Georgia Wells and Sam Schechner report that OpenAI has fired an exec who had raised concerns about upcoming launch of erotic content [WSJ]
—Amy Brittain, Robert Klemko and Maria Sacchetti report that those seeking to sue ICE for injuries or damage face an uphill battle [WaPo]
Today...
...in 2011, Paramount released Jon M. Chu's Justin Bieber: Never Say Never in theaters. The 3D concert film was a huge hit, earning $99m at the box office, and spawned a sequel in 2013. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Jennifer Aniston (57), Damian Lewis (55), Rosé (29), Eva Victor (32), Stavros Halkias (37), Cooper Raiff (29), Adèle Haenel (37), Julio Torres (39), Natalie Dormer (44), Kelly Rowland (45), Brandy Norwood (47), Matthew Lawrence (46), Taylor Lautner (34), Q'orianka Kilcher (36), Jazz Raycole (38), Lisa Vicari (29), Carey Lowell (65), Jessica Green (33), Nicki Clyne (43), Isaiah Mustafa (52), Sarah Butler (41), Tina Louise (92), Diane Franklin (64), Jeon Do-yeon (53), Lisa Kay (55), Thomas Turgoose (34), Lauren Tsai (28), Dylan Arnold (32), Georgia Groome (34), Lymari Nadal (48), Alexi Wasser (45), Olivia Scott Welch (28), Jesse Rath (37), Hilal Altinbilek (35), Becky LeBeau (64), Catherine Hickland (70), Lovi Poe (35), Brice Beckham (50) |
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