Category Archives: US television industry

Return of the zing: Jon Stewart is back at The Daily Show, amid a changed world

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Will Stewart’s satire still cut through in a post-pandemic world of disinformation, polarisation and fragmented media?

Barack Obama was US president. Britain was a lynchpin of the European Union. Harvey Weinstein was a powerful movie mogul. Meghan Markle was starring in Suits. “TikTok” did not mean anything and fake news meant a satirical TV program with pretend reporters.

That was the world Jon Stewart left behind when he hosted his last episode of The Daily Show on the Comedy Central network on 6 August 2015, denying a legion of fans his lacerating take on the election, presidency, impeachment, defeat, impeachment again and comeback of Donald Trump.

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HBO hit TV series the White Lotus drops actor Miloš Biković over Russia ties

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Network says role will be recast after Ukraine hit out over casting of Serbian for new season

The makers of hit TV show the White Lotus have dropped actor Miloš Biković from the upcoming series after criticism from Ukraine over the Serbian native’s ties to Russia.

Biković, who was cast for the third season of the award-winning dark comedy just weeks ago, has protested against HBO’s decision as “the triumph of absurdity and the defeat of art”.

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White House denounces Fox News over host’s ‘foul’ remarks on CNN pair

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Mark Levin called Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper ‘self-hating Jews’ on syndicated radio show, prompting furious response

For the second time in two days, the White House denounced Fox News over remarks by a host relating to the Israel-Hamas war, following condemnation of Jesse Watters’ apparent incitement of violence against Arab Americans with condemnation of Mark Levin for calling two CNN anchors “self-hating Jews”.

Andrew Bates, a spokesperson, said: “President Biden believes in an America where we come together against hate and don’t fan its flames. But not only is Fox News aligning with those who fan the flames of hate – Fox is paying their salaries.”

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‘Full fascist’ Trump condemned after ‘treason’ rant against NBC and MSNBC

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Former president vows to investigate TV networks for ‘country-threatening treason’ should he win US election next year

Donald Trump said Comcast, the owner of NBC and MSNBC, “should be investigated for its ‘Country Threatening Treason’” and promised to do so should he be re-elected president next year.

In response, one progressive group said the former US president and current overwhelming frontrunner in the Republican 2024 presidential nomination race had “gone full fascist”.

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Rupert Murdoch thought $787.5m Dominion suit would cost Fox $50m, Michael Wolff book says

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Trump tell-all author returns with tale of Fox News strife which also includes prediction Ron DeSantis will be Republican nominee

In winter 2022, at a hideaway in St Barts, Rupert Murdoch directed “sudden fury” at Donald Trump, who he thought would lose the 2024 Republican presidential primary to Ron DeSantis, but who the media mogul also said was likely to cost him “fifty million dollars”, through a lawsuit regarding Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.

The lawsuit was filed by Dominion Voting Systems, over Fox News’s broadcast of Trump’s lies. Settled this April, it cost Murdoch considerably more than he predicted: $787.5m, to be precise.

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‘This power is reaching a natural end’: Michael Wolff’s new book predicts the fall of Fox News

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The Fall will be published next month and promises to chronicle the rightwing network and the Murdoch family’s downfall

The author Michael Wolff, whose bestselling books have chronicled the rise and fall of Donald Trump, promised on Tuesday to tell readers how Fox News will end.

“I have been telling the story of the great power of Rupert Murdoch and Fox News for many years,” Wolff said, announcing his new book, The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty. “This power is now reaching a natural end and The Fall brings the story to its closing act.”

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Actor Angus Cloud of Euphoria fame dies aged 25

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Cloud, who portrayed Fezco ‘Fez’ O’Neill in the HBO teen drama, had recently lost his father

The actor Angus Cloud, best known for his role on HBO’s teen drama Euphoria, has died at age 25, his family confirmed to media on Monday.

Cloud’s publicist, Cait Bailey, said Cloud died Monday at his family home in Oakland, California. No cause of death was given.

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Directors union reaches tentative deal with Hollywood studios as writers strike

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Agreement comes as writers remain on strike and actors are currently holding a strike authorization vote

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) which represents film and television directors announced late on Saturday that it had reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood’s major studios, averting a possible work stoppage.

The development comes as Hollywood writers are currently on strike and actors represented by the Sag-Aftra union are currently holding a strike authorization vote.

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Chuck Todd to leave NBC’s Meet the Press after nearly 10 years

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Kristen Welker, the network’s chief White House correspondent, will take over hosting duties for the political affairs show

Chuck Todd has announced that he will be leaving NBC’s Meet the Press after nearly 10 years.

On Sunday, Todd, who has hosted the political affairs show for more than nine years, told viewers: “It’s been an amazing nearly decade-long run. I am really proud of what this team and I have built over the last decade.”

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Campaign group teams with Hollywood to sharpen human rights focus

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Human Rights Watch follows lead of Pentagon, FBI and CIA to insert its messages into popular film and TV culture

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has decided to take on Hollywood to improve the visibility and awareness of humanitarian issues in popular culture.

As part of the move, the advocacy group has signed up with a talent agent firm, Activist Artists Management (AAM), to provide “scripted and unscripted content in film and television”, an HRW statement said.

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‘Not how white men fight’: Tucker Carlson text reportedly worried Fox bosses

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Fired Fox host allegedly described Trump supporters assaulting a man, while finding himself ‘rooting for the mob’

A racist text message allegedly sent by the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson set off alarm bells at the top of the network and ultimately contributed to his firing, the New York Times reported.

The text, which remains redacted in court filings in Dominion Voter Systems’ defamation case against Fox News, included the line: “It’s not how white men fight.”

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Hollywood film and TV writers begin rare strike: ‘The dream should pay a living wage’

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Writers Guild of America calls first work stoppage in 15 years as industry grapples with streaming boom

Hollywood productions have ground to a halt after thousands of film and television writers went on strike following the breakdown of last-minute pay talks with major studios.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) called its first stoppage in 15 years after failing to reach an agreement on higher pay, pitting its 11,500 screenwriters against old-guard companies, such as Universal, Paramount and Walt Disney, as well as tech newcomers, such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple.

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Hollywood writers and studios hold talks as strike deadline looms

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Writers Guild of America could call stoppage as early as Tuesday if pay agreement is not reached

Negotiators for Hollywood writers and film and television studios are engaged in 11th-hour talks in an effort to avert a strike that would disrupt TV production across an industry grappling with seismic changes.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) could call a work stoppage as early as Tuesday if it cannot reach a deal with companies such as Walt Disney and Netflix. A strike would be the first by the WGA in 15 years.

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‘I won’t be 80’: Michael J Fox describes struggles with Parkinson’s

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The actor, who was diagnosed aged 29, said advancing disease had caused him a string of injuries but he was still able to remain optimistic

Back to the Future star Michael J Fox described Parkinson’s as a “gift that keeps on taking” in an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, in which he described his struggles with the illness.

The 61-year-old activist and former Hollywood actor was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease a year after Back to the Future Part III was released in 1990.

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Carlson fired on Murdoch’s orders, report says – as it happened

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As one of the top proponents of Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen, Tucker Carlson loomed large over Dominion’s lawsuit against Fox. But messages released before the case’s settlement show Carlson apparently did not think much of Trump, or necessarily believe some of the claims he was putting on air. Here’s the Guardian’s Edward Helmore with a look back at what the Dominion case revealed about Carlson:

Tucker Carlson was once seen as untouchable. Now the most popular TV host on American cable news is at the center of a firestorm threatening to engulf Fox News and also anger Donald Trump, whose conspiracy theory-laden political cause he has long championed and who his audience loves.

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NBC Universal chief Jeff Shell out over inappropriate relationship

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Media giant parent Comcast says investigation by outside counsel led to departure of executive

The chief executive of NBC Universal, Jeff Shell, left the media giant on Sunday after acknowledging an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, following a complaint that prompted an investigation, parent company Comcast said.

“I had an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, which I deeply regret,” Shell said in a statement.

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‘Sleaze-slinging’ Fox News denounced by family of January 6 officer who died

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Condemnation of ‘so-called new network’ comes after Tucker Carlson shares footage from attack courtesy of Kevin McCarthy

The family of Brian Sicknick, the US Capitol police officer who died the day after the January 6 attack on Congress, condemned Tucker Carlson and Fox News as “unscrupulous and outright sleazy”, after the primetime host made his first use of security footage from the riot bestowed by Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House speaker.

A statement on Tuesday said: “The Sicknick family is outraged at the ongoing attack on our family by the unscrupulous and outright sleazy so-called news network of Fox News.”

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ABC News pulls hosts TJ Holmes and Amy Robach off air after romance revealed

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US network says the anchors, who are married to other people, will be temporarily pulled from GMA3 as their romance is ‘an internal and an external distraction’

Two TV anchors working for ABC News in the US have been pulled from air after their workplace romance came to light, amid a storm of public gossip and tabloid coverage.

TJ Holmes and Amy Robach, who have worked as hosts on Good Morning America spinoff talkshow GMA3 since 2020, were revealed to be in a relationship last week after paparazzi photos of the pair were published online. Both Holmes and Robach are married, but after the photos were published a representative for the pair said they had both separated from their spouses and the relationship only began recently.

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Murdoch press turns on Donald Trump in favour of ‘DeFuture’ Ron DeSantis

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Rightwing media empire looks for new Republican protege after poor showing in midterm elections

Rupert Murdoch has reportedly warned Donald Trump his media empire will not back any attempt to return to the White House, as former supporters turn to the youthful Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

After the Republican party’s disappointing performance in the US midterm elections, in particular the poor showing by candidates backed by Trump, Murdoch’s rightwing media empire appears to be seeking a clean break from the former president’s damaged reputation and perceived waning political power.

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Newsmax bans Lara Logan after QAnon-tinged on-air tirade

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Rightwing networks says war correspondent turned pundit will not be invited back in view of ‘reprehensible statements’

The rightwing US TV network Newsmax said it had no plans to interview Lara Logan again, after the award-winning war correspondent turned rightwing pundit launched a QAnon-tinged tirade on air.

Speaking to host Eric Bolling, Logan said “the open border is Satan’s way of taking control of the world” and claimed world leaders drank children’s blood.

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