Television

“The Challenge” is cutting ties with contestant Dee Nguyen. According to screenshots from fellow “The Challenge” cast member Bayleigh Dayton, Nguyen had posted “Idk why some of u think I’m anti BLM. I’ve been saying that since the day I lost my virginity” in a since-deleted tweet. On Instagram, Nguyen responded to someone who criticized

After leading a Black Lives Matter protest against racial injustice over the weekend, NBA star Russell Westbrook is producing a project on “the single worst incident of racial violence in American history.” Westbrook is teaming with celebrated documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson and “Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez” producer Blackfin for a series on

Print and broadcast journalists who do the spadework of daily local and national breaking news reporting are being challenged like never before to cover an all-encompassing, relentlessly complex and fast-moving story. So many of those in the trenches of coronavirus coverage for major TV news organizations are women. In telling the stories of frontline workers

Isaac Wright Jr. has been on both sides of the criminal justice system, both as a wrongfully convicted inmate and as a lawyer, with his life serving as the basis for the ABC drama series “For Life.” Wright spoke with Variety recently to offer his unique perspective on the protests following the killing of George Floyd

One week after former “Vanderpump Rules” cast member Faith Stowers revealed that two of the show’s original cast members Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute had reported her to the police for a crime she’d had nothing to do with, a Bravo spokesperson confirmed to Variety that Schroeder and Doute won’t return to the show. Additionally, new

Gayle King has not been sleeping well. The “CBS This Morning” co-host has been disturbed by the weight of the world events she covers for CBS News. The brutal death of George Floyd has spurred emotional moments on live TV and tough conversations with friends and family, including her adult children — daughter Kirby and

ABC aired the first part of its summer stroll down Bachelor Nation memory lane, however, a much smaller audience than is usual for “The Bachelor” tuned in to watch. The premiere of “The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever!” scored a 0.4 rating among adults 18-49 and drew 2.4 million total viewers. Compared with the

Streamers Netflix, BBC iPlayer and BritBox have removed comedy series “Little Britain” from their platforms amid concerns about its use of blackface for certain characters. Variety has confirmed that Netflix pulled the BBC series, which was written by and stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams, on Friday. Netflix has also dropped the comedians’ airport mockumentary

As COVID-19 forced cities into lockdown, nightlife shut down almost overnight, taking countless gigs and jobs with it. With no ability to stage shows, draw crowds, or even just dance it out with their friends and chosen family, drag performers have had to turn to digital platforms to keep themselves afloat, both financially and creatively.

Lime Pictures, the producer of U.K. soap “Hollyoaks,” has launched an investigation after star Rachel Adedeji alleged she witnessed racism on the Channel 4 show. The actress, who has played Lisa Loveday in “Hollyoaks” since 2016, posted a statement on social media last week about her time on the soap. She claims she was once

Recently launched U.K. AVOD service W4free has added over 100 feature films to its platform after striking licensing deals with distributors including Kaleidoscope, Platform Entertainment, The Film Consortium and Icon Film Distribution. Among the titles added to the service, which launched in November 2019, are films such as  1989’s “Henry V,” starring Kenneth Branagh; 2007’s “La Vie

Japanese public broadcaster NHK has apologized following a furor over an animated video purporting to explain the Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. The video aired on NHK’s Sunday “The World Now” program and was uploaded to the broadcaster’s Twitter feed. It not only portrayed African Americans in a stereotypical way, with an angry

The lack of diversity in factual television has been highlighted by BAFTA’s Television Awards nominations, according to industry network We are Doc Women, which has called for “swift, definitive action” from TV companies to tackle the issue. Announced last week, the nominations for the BAFTA TV factual director category was an all-male affair. For the

Russian director Vladlena Sandu’s upcoming TV series “Identification,” the pilot episode for which plays Tuesday at Roskino virtual market, Key Buyers Event, starts with four naked female bodies, each with the same tattoo on their neck, found by police in a refrigerator truck on the border between Russia and Finland. Cut to three years later

Kyrgyz and Russian director Nurbek Egen is best known for feature films “The Wedding Chest” and “The Empty Home,” and he more recently transitioned to TV with the 2017 series “Two Against Death.” He is now making a play for international audiences with high-end show “Sherlock: The Russian Chronicles,” produced by Russia’s Yellow, Black and

When Russian toon house Wizart Animation began enlisting collaborators for its upcoming series “Snow Queen: Keepers of Wonders,” a small-screen spinoff of the blockbuster animated film franchise, it wasted no time in recruiting talent from abroad. Brad Breeck, the composer from Disney XD’s “Gravity Falls,” came on board to assist with the soundtrack, while TV

Boutique co-producer and distributor About Premium Content (APC) has agreed a raft of international sales for season one of its Cold War drama series “Shadow Lines,” including  to AMC Networks’ streaming service Sundance Now in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. A second season of the 1950s Helslinki-set spy thriller has been commissioned by Finnish streaming

“Guilt” and “Eric, Ernie and Me” writer Neil Forsyth is launching production label Tannadice Pictures in partnership with Objective Fiction, the production company behind Netflix and Channel 4 co-production “Feel Good.” Forsyth will exclusively develop and write content for Objective Fiction via Tannadice Pictures, as well as develop projects with other writers through the new

Leading filmmaker Spike Lee told late night TV host Jimmy Fallon that the “world has changed” – a reference to coronavirus, social distancing and the current street protests in favor of #BlackLivesMatter. But Lee went on to suggest that cycles of U.S. police brutality against Black people show that history is repeating itself. The pair

Walter Presents, the expanding streaming service for non-English-language drama, has acquired U.K. rights to “Russian Affairs,” a glossy drama about power, money, and sex in present-day Russia that is currently the number one TV show in its home country where the local title translates as “Gold Diggers.” The ensemble series, which is sold by Russia’s

“Vanderpump Rules” star Stassi Schroeder has been dropped by her agency and publicist, after it was revealed that she had called the police on her former co-star Faith Stowers for a crime Stowers had nothing to do with, Variety has learned exclusively. Stowers, who is black, appeared on the fourth and sixth season of “Vanderpump Rules,”

After the success of “Chernobyl,” Johan Renck and Craig Mazin are reuniting on HBO’s planned series adaptation of the hit video game “The Last of Us.” Variety has confirmed that Renck has signed on to direct the pilot of the series in addition to executive producing. Mazin is co-writing and executive producing the series along

In today’s TV News Roundup, HBO announced the premiere date for its documentary “Welcome to Chechnya,” and Showtime announced it is developing a new documentary based on the largest and deadliest prison uprising in American history. DATES HBO has announced its upcoming comedy special “Entre Nos: The Winners” will debut on June 19 at 9:30

Welcome back to Tune In: our weekly newsletter offering a guide to the best of the week’s TV. Each week, Variety’s TV team combs through the week’s schedule, selecting our picks of what to watch and when/how to watch them. As many across the country continue to practice self-isolation due to coronavirus, why not while away

When Jim Nantz returns to the task of presenting live golf this weekend, he knows the job will feel nothing like the one he’s done for decades. Viewers typically see Nantz seated alongside analyst Nick Faldo. Thanks to restrictions posed by the coronavirus pandemic, however, over the course of four days of the PGA Tour’s

No matter how much you protest or share social media posts, the majority of writers, creators and executives in Hollywood could be doing much more to prevent tragedies like the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor or Tony McDade. It’s reported by the Geena Davis Institute that 80% of the media consumed globally is created

John Oliver made an impassioned argument for defunding the police on Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight.” Oliver, who dedicated the entire segment to the growing support for the Black Lives Matter movement, calls to rethink the functions of American law enforcement in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless

Hartley Sawyer has been fired from CW’s “The Flash” over a collection of racist and misogynistic tweets he posted prior to joining the show. The news was confirmed by CW and the show’s producers Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions, who provided Variety the following statement. “Hartley Sawyer will not be returning for Season 7 of ‘The

Producer Rola Bauer has been named president of international TV production for MGM. Bauer will spearhead new projects and co-productions designed for the international market. She’ll be based in Munich and split her time between MGM’s European and U.S. offices. She reports to MGM Television Group chairman Mark Burnett. “Rola is an important member of

Netflix’s “Cheer” and VH1’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race” both earned five nominations for the second annual Critics Choice Real TV Awards, while Netflix dominated the tally among all networks. Administered jointly by the Critics Choice Association and the nonfiction producers organization NPACT, the Critics Choice Real TV Awards has also named “Survivor” host and executive producer