Open Thread

Variety reports: Sherri Shepherd will launch her own daytime talk show in fall 2022, Variety has learned. The new syndicated series, titled “Sherri,” will slide into the Fox O&O time slots that are currently held by “The Wendy Williams Show,” as the hit gossip queen, Wendy Williams, continues to be in recovery for health-related issues. In a statement to Variety, …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Britney Spears has landed a multimillion-dollar book deal with publisher Simon & Schuster. The big bucks pact came together over the past few months, Deadline has confirmed from sources close to the situation. According to the New York Post‘s Page Six, the deal is priced at $15 million, and will cover topics including her professional and her …

Deadline reports: Despite all the high-tech tricks, political posturing and pyrotechnics, the best part of the Closing Ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics proved to be the athletes. Competing the past two weeks amidst rising international tensions, pandemic quarantines and with a heavy-handed host, the participants injected a bit of fun this morning into the tightly scripted affair. Following …

Variety reports: Rather than be able to claim any bragging rights for streaming or sales when his new album comes out Feb. 22, Kanye West’s deliberately limiting its listenership to one device … one that can only be purchased from him. So how much will it cost you to listen to “Donda 2” later this month? About $230 — assuming …

Deadline Hollywood reports: His reps declined to comment, but word in publishing circles is that Elliot Page’s memoir Pageboy sold to Flatiron Books for north of $3 million. The deal was made based on a 49-page proposal shopped by UTA. Deadline read the document, and it sounds like Page has a truly compelling story to tell about a long struggle …

Variety reports: “Yellowstone” actor Forrie J. Smith will not attend the upcoming Screen Actors Guild Awards due to rules requiring all attendees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The “Yellowstone” cast is nominated in the top category of ensemble in a television drama alongside “Succession,” “Squid Game,” “The Morning Show” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.” “I want to apologize to y’all for …

Variety reports: Here’s the logline for the Discovery Plus project: “With more than 150,000 global members, Hillsong has recently been entangled in scandal. ‘Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed’ will profile numerous ex-members of the church who have come forward to share harrowing allegations of the trauma, abuse, financial and labor exploitation that created a culture of chaos within the church. The …

Deadline Hollywood reports: ViacomCBS is rebranding to become Paramount Global, effective Feb. 16, the latest giant pivot in a rapidly transforming media and entertainment landscape. It’s the name of the company’s storied studio and its centerpiece streaming network Paramount+, which launched in March of 2021. “An iconic global company deserves an iconic global name. One that reflects the power of …

Variety reports: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes are finalizing details to host this year’s Academy Awards, multiple sources told Variety. The three comic forces appear to be the only emcees in the mix for the March awards show, despite several scenarios that telecast creatives have been weighing. Producer Will Packer has been in meetings for weeks trying to …

Deadline Hollywood reports: CBS is getting into wordplay. The network has ordered a primetime game show reboot of long-running format Lingo with RuPaul Charles to host. The series, which will premiere this year, is a cross between bingo and a word guessing game. It comes as word games are all the jazz, with The New York Times recently acquiring online …

Variety reports: Billionaire developer Rick Caruso filed to run for mayor of Los Angeles on Friday afternoon, ending months of speculation and shaking up the crowded race to succeed Eric Garcetti. A onetime Republican, Caruso is best known as the builder of the Grove and the Americana at Brand shopping centers, among others. He is also a former Los Angeles …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Actress Tara Reid (Van Wilder, American Pie) has launched development on Mikey and Miguel, an adult animated LGBTQ+ sitcom, in which she will also star. The show taking inspiration from Will & Grace and Family Guy is billed as a half-hour, animated joyride through modern-day LGBTQ+ parenthood, full of adult humor, saucy, scenes and heartfelt moments in …

The New York Times reports: Sting has sold his songwriting catalog, including hits with the Police like “Every Breath You Take” and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” and solo work like “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free,” to the Universal Music Group, in music’s latest blockbuster catalog deal. The transaction, announced on Thursday by Universal’s music publishing …

Variety reports: Good news, everyone! “Futurama” is being revived at Hulu. Variety has learned that the streaming service has ordered 20 new episodes of the adult animated sci-fi comedy series. The revival hails from David X. Cohen and Matt Groening. Cohen developed the original series with Groening, the series creator. Original series cast members Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Sherri Shepherd is finalizing a deal to become a permanent host on The Wendy Williams Show, sources tell Deadline. Along with fellow actor Michael Rapaport, Shepherd emerged as the lead guest hosts on the show, filling in on a regular basis for Williams since the beginning of the 13th season as the veteran talk show host took …

Billboard Magazine reports: When Shaylee Curnow — better known to her fans as Peach PRC — set out to record her latest single, the Australian TikTok star had a specific vision in mind: a sarcastic, flippant track making fun of God. Weeks later, that song, aptly titled “God Is A Freak,” has officially been released via Republic Records. Throughout the …

Variety reports: After living through nearly two years of a pandemic that won’t end, Americans, as it turns out, were in desperate need of a laugh. That may explain why Paramount’s go-for-broke action comedy “Jackass Forever” triumphed at the domestic box office while Roland Emmerich’s disaster epic “Moonfall” turned into an epic disaster. The science-fiction catastrophe film crash-landed on the …

Variety reports: Among Spotify users, 19% said they have already canceled their service — or plan to — over the Rogan uproar, according to a Feb. 1 consumer poll conducted by Forrester Research. The study also found that 54% of those who use Spotify have no intention of canceling their subscription, while 18.5% said they would considering canceling only if …

The New York Times reports: James Bidgood, who elevated erotic gay photography to an art in the 1960s and ’70s with his carefully staged phantasmagoric pictures, and who was the anonymous director behind “Pink Narcissus,” a gay film released in 1971 that became something of a cult classic, died on Jan. 31 in Manhattan. He was 88. Brian Paul Clamp, …

Variety reports: The 2022 Oscar nominations are nearly here, and on Thursday morning the Academy announced that actors Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan will be on hand to announce the nominees next week. Ross (“Black-ish,” “The High Note”) and Jordan (“Will & Grace,” “The Help”) will host a live presentation of the 2022 Oscar nominations on Tuesday, Feb. 8, …