| IN AN INTERVIEW WITH DEADLINE, THE SENATOR EXPRESSES CONCERN ABOUT THE WBD DEAL'S IMPACT ON WORKFORCE |
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Thursday called for greater protections for content creators as AI takes hold in the entertainment industry, while expressing some optimism that a long-sought music bill would move this Congress.
Schiff also had serious concerns about the Netflix and Paramount bids for Warner Bros. Discovery, and President Donald Trump‘s comments that he would have a role in whether any transaction gets the regulatory green light. On Wednesday, Trump said he would not favor any deal that does not include a sale of CNN, calling the news network’s content “poison.”
In an interview with Deadline, Schiff said he is concerned about a WBD sale’s impact on the workforce, “at a time when it’s never been under greater stress, after the pandemic, after the strikes, after the contraction of the streaming services.”
He also said that he was concerned “about the impact on the First Amendment and on media freedom and media consolidation, and the president using the leverage of his office and regulatory power to approve or disapprove of mergers, to change content to something that he would view more favorably – that is a grave threat to the freedom of the press.” >>>"100% Improper"
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Trump Signs Executive Order To Sideline State AI Laws |
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Bruce Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere marks the second film in consecutive years that put a formative story about an iconic rock star into the awards race.
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exclusive Jamie-Lynn Sigler is returning to ABC with a guest-starring role on the network’s hit medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. In the Jan. 15 Episode 2208, “Heavy on Me,” Sigler will play Dr. Laura Kaplan, a urologist living with Multiple Sclerosis, who visits Grey Sloan. exclusive Say Nothing star Lola Petticrew has been tapped as the co-lead opposite Toby Wallace in Netflix’s Assassin’s Creed live-action series, based on Ubisoft’s best-selling video game franchise.
Hugh Laurie has been tapped as the male lead opposite Amy Poehler in the upcoming Peacock comedy series Dig, which reunites Parks and Recreation star Poehler with the series’ co-creator Mike Schur.
There are two new additions to the recurring cast of Matlock for Season 2. They are Sarah Wright Olsen (American Made) and newcomer Henry Haber. exclusive In-demand Alien: Romulus and Ella McCay star Spike Fearn is joining two-time Oscar winner Renée Zellweger in David Yates’ psychological thriller Phantom Son. |
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⚖️ Former Matlock series regular David Del Rio has been questioned again about the alleged Sept. 26 sexual assault incident, which led to his firing from the show. Del Rio, with his new attorney Shawn Holley whom he retained following his October dismissal, requested to be interviewed again.
👀 Dana Walden has gone on the record on two topics that have swirled around Hollywood this year: the Disney CEO race and Jimmy Kimmel. Asked about being one of the candidates to replace Bob Iger, Walden said, “Well, being pit[ted] against my colleagues, I don’t appreciate because we have incredible relationships." Walden added that the company suspended Kimmel to "take the temperature down" amid complaints from Donald Trump and others on the right.
🐻 German director, author, and photographer Wim Wenders has been announced as the president of the International Jury of the 76th Berlinale. “Wim Wenders is one of the most influential voices in international cinema,” said Berlinale Director Tricia Tuttle.
🐺 Agnieszka Holland, one of the more seasoned directors vying for this year’s Best International Feature Oscar, sits down with Deadline to talk Franz. Holland discovered author Franz Kafka in her early teens, and it explains a lot about her subsequent career, making films about people who get lost in, or who are marginalized by, the machinations of unchecked authority.
🤝 CBS Studios is extending its relationship with prolific creators and producers Robert King and Michelle King, renewing their overall deal at the studio. The husband and wife team, who have been at CBS Studios since 2009, are behind a slew of hit series that have launched over the past 15 years. |
BY THE NUMBERS
$83.17M - Motion Picture Association revenue in 2025 |
OBITUARIES
🕯️ Stephen Downing, a Los Angeles Police Department officer who turned to a TV writing and producing career that included work on such series as Adam-12, Kojak and MacGyver, died of sepsis November 20 in Long Beach, California, hospital. He was 87. 🕯️ D.L. Coburn, the playwright who won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for drama for his much-produced The Gin Game , died from colon cancer December 3 at a Dallas hospice center. He was 87.🕯️ Jim Ward, voice actor for animated shows like The Fairly OddParents, Ben 10, and Wolverine and the X-Men, has died. He was 66. 🕯️ Pauline Potter, whose struggle to lose hundreds of pounds was chronicled in a 2015 episode of TLC's My 600-lb Life , died Thursday November 27, nearly a year after a serious car accident left her with broken ribs and other lingering injuries. She was 62. 🕯️ 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery |
ON THE RADAR
Fri - F1 hits streaming; Taylor Swift: The End of an Era debuts
Sat - Dick Van Dyke turns 100; Josh O'Connor hosts SNL
Sun - Rachel Maddow L.A. 'Burn Order' event
Mon - The Housemaid L.A. premiere
Tue - NBA Cup Final; Sabrina Carpenter on Seth Meyers
Wed - Fallout S2 debut |
The Jury Is In - Red Sea Film Festival jury members Naomie Harris, Riz Ahmed, Nadine Labaki and Sean Baker during the Yusr Awards Ceremony. |
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