Month: July 2020

Facebook simply has not done enough to fight problems including hate speech and voter suppression, according to a report culminating a two-year independent audit of the social giant’s practices and policies. That has included Facebook’s failure to take action against disinformation and inflammatory comments posted by President Donald Trump, the report said. “Unfortunately, in our
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Paolo Sorrentino will return to his hometown of Naples for feature film “The Hand of God” for Netflix. Produced by “The Great Beauty” director alongside Lorenzo Mieli for Fremantle-backed The Apartment Pictures, the film will be produced in Naples. Sorrentino will both write and direct, though further details about the project remain sparse. The film’s
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European pay-TV operator Sky and Sony Pictures Television have agreed a new long-term partnership across the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. The deal includes a multi-year extension across all markets to the exclusive first pay window, and access to Sony’s film library, and extends to all of Sky’s transactional services across its markets.
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“Harry Potter” writer J.K Rowling, “Handmaid’s Tale” author Margaret Atwood and “Midnight’s Children” writer Salman Rushdie are amongst 150 public figures to have signed a letter condemning the practice of ‘public shaming,’ or cancel culture as it is known popularly. Cancel culture is a term used to describe individuals who have shared an unpopular opinion
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“American Idol” finalist and contemporary Christian singer Chris Sligh has COVID-19 and has developed pneumonia. Sligh, who finished tenth on the 2007 season of “Idol,” shared a picture of himself in a Nashville-area healthcare facility on Instagram late Monday, but was back at home Tuesday night. Sligh began exhibiting symptoms in late June that worsened
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Sony/ATV Music Publishing announced the signing of Bobby Sessions to a global co-publishing deal. The rapper and songwriter is credited with co-writing Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage Remix” featuring Beyoncé, as well as Meg’s new single “Girls in the Hood.” A fellow Texas native, Sessions (pictured at right) signed a recording deal with Def Jam in
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FX and Hulu have partnered to launch the documentary series “The New York Times Presents.” The show hails from the team behind FX’s “The Weekly.” The new show will present standalone documentaries on major stories via the journalists at the New York Times. “The New York Times Presents” will feature 10 individual documentaries that will
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In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced the premiere date for its upcoming drama series “Away” and Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes announced their new podcast “Smartless” will premiere in July. DATES Netflix has announced “Away” will premiere on Sept. 4. The upcoming drama series follows American astronaut Emma Green (Hilary Swank) as she
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Matt Bomer already knew Derek Simonds, the creator and showrunner of “The Sinner,” before being approached about starring in the third season of the USA Network series. “I had met with Derek years ago when he was involved in ‘Call Me by Your Name,’ and we’d hit it off creatively and had a great conversation,”
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Peter Lenkov’s relationship with CBS has been terminated due to accusations the producer and showrunner created a toxic work environment on his sets, Variety has confirmed. Lenkov developed and was the showrunner on the CBS revivals of “Magnum P.I.” and “MacGyver,” but has now been fired from those shows. In addition, his overall deal with CBS
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Viewers were treated to two different takes on an 18th century Russian empress this season: HBO’s four-part “Catherine the Great,” starring Helen Mirren, and Hulu’s 10-part satirical “The Great,” starring Elle Fanning. The aims were very different, and so were the musical approaches by English composer Rupert Gregson-Williams, who undertook HBO’s serious dramatic adaptation, and
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While the opulence of building a enchanted forest inside the Grand Palais or constructing a monumental, thirty-foot sculpture of a jacket feels like a distant memory, the world of couture lives on. Digitally, at least. As the fashion industry continues to grapple with physical shows during the time of COVID-19, the big fashion houses move
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Entertainment industry veteran, budding sports entrepreneur and civil rights attorney Jeff Kwatinetz, co-founder of the three-on-three basketball league Big3, which he formed in 2017 with actor-musician Ice Cube, has put a $4.8 million price tag on a spacious home along the picturesque canals in L.A.’s once gritty, now fashionable and exceedingly expensive beach community of
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Hong Kong “Mulan” star Donnie Yen this week reiterated his political loyalty to mainland China as he teased work on the upcoming theatrical adaptation of popular video game “Sleeping Dogs” and announced “Golden Empire,” a new China-backed crime thriller. His hometown is currently roiling under the impact of a controversial new national security law imposed
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The stars and creators of the HBO Max competition series “Legendary,” including judge Leiomy Maldonado, MC Dashaun Wesley and executive producers Jack Mizrahi, Rob Eric and David Collins, joined the Variety Streaming Room, hosted by Variety’s Caroline Framke, to discuss why it was important to highlight the stories behind the dances. The competition series, inspired
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