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Sandy Hook Parents Awarded $45.2 Million in Case Against Alex Jones in Addition to $4.1 Mil Award

Roger Friedman
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Sandy Hook Parents Awarded $45.2 Million in Case Against Alex Jones in Addition to $4.1 Mil Award

Sandy Hook Elementary school parents of a 6 year old who was among the murdered in the 2012 massacre of twenty children and six adults have won a huge victory today. A jury in Texas has awarded them $45.2 million against conspiracy theorist and right wing blowhard Alex Jones for raving on and on that the killings never happened, or were staged.

The $45.2 million is punitive damages. Yesterday, Jones was hit with another $4.1 million in damages to the Sandy Hook families.

Jones is the purveyor of “InfoWars,” a TV show (now not seen except on the internet) in which his many crazy, hurtful, and harmful lies about the Sandy Hook killings, the Parkland children, Hillary Clinton, and so on were like a noxious gas released into the atmosphere.

The judge also declared also said that she will not stop the parents’ lawyers from giving Jones’ text messages — which were accidentally sent to them during the trial — to law enforcement and the Jan. 6 committee. The revelation of the text messages rocked the courtroom this week. If Jones’s evident evil wasn’t always apparent, this information sealed his doom.

Jones told the jury earlier that any judgement over $2 million would “ruin” him. But it was also revealed that he’s worth almost $270 million, money he’s made spouting out and out lies. The 6 year’s old parents, Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, sued Jones for defamation after he accused them of being part of a government “false flag” operation to fake the shooting in Newtown, Conn., supposedly to support gun control laws.

These judgements should significantly shake up right wing radio and the internet, which is filled with this nonsense day and night. You hear it here in New York all over the radio, and it’s shocking. Rush Limbaugh, now mercifully dead, was a huge proponent of such lies. If nothing else, this should give the folks at Fox News, who bloviate their garbage nightly, a chill.

Will this be the end of Jones? We can only hope that these awards, which he will appeal certainly, finish him off for good. Last week, Jones’s company, Free Speech Systems filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing revealed that Jones’s backers had taken at least $62 million out of the business. Jones declared victory today because the parents had asked for $150 million. He is very sick man.

In a statement, Mark Bankston, the attorney representing the parents, said that his clients “are thrilled with the result and look forward to putting Mr. Jones’ money to good use. Mr. Jones on the other hand will not sleep easy tonight. With punitive damages still to be decided and multiple additional defamation lawsuits pending, it is clear that Mr Jones’ time on the American stage is finally coming to an end.”

ABC Throws Hail Mary Pass for “Big Sky”: Casts Rosanna Arquette, Plus Jensen Ackles to Play Ryan Phillippe, and Desmond from “Lost”

Roger Friedman
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ABC Throws Hail Mary Pass for “Big Sky”: Casts Rosanna Arquette, Plus Jensen Ackles to Play Ryan Phillippe, and Desmond from “Lost”

“Big Sky” is a show no one watches or knows anything about. But ABC owns it, so they keep renewing it despite low ratings and general apathy.

Now the network is throwing a Hail Mary pass for the show. They’ve hired Rosanna Arquette, a real star and marquee name, to be a guest star. The show already announced they persuaded Reba McEntire to come aboard. She’s a country superstar with a huge following.

They’re also backtracking to their first, promising episode that starred Ryan Phillippe. “Big Sky” killed off his character in the first episode after promoting him as the star. So now they’ve hired Jensen Ackles from “Supernatural,” a younger, cheaper Phillippe, to play a similar character.

“Big Sky” also announced they’ve added Henry Ian Cusack, aka Desmond from “Lost.”

Will all this save “Big Sky”? If these additions don’t work, plus a story you’d want to follow, that will be it for this marginal drama.

PS to the producers: do something clever, license the song “Rosanna” by Toto have it play in a bar where the character passes through. She could say something like, Can you turn that down?

Record Low: Beyonce’s “Renaissance” Opens with 300K Fewer Sales Than 2016’s “Lemonade”

Roger Friedman
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Record Low: Beyonce’s “Renaissance” Opens with 300K Fewer Sales Than 2016’s “Lemonade”

Beyonce came at us with “Renaissance” on a hype wave. But the results are in and they ain’t so good: just 335K sold in the debut week, down by 300K copies from 2016’s “Lemonade.”

She’s taken lemonade, and made lemons.

“Renaissance” sales were almost evenly divided between paid downloads/CDs/LPs and streaming. The former part was 197K.

“Renaissance” has been hurt by a bunch of things starting with Kelis finding a sample of her hit “Milkshake” on there– it’s since been removed. Then there was the issue of Beyonce singing the word “spaz”– as in spastic, and not a colon. “Spaz,” like “retarded,” is no longer allowed in the PC world. (Also, it’s just terrible no matter what. Sounds like a demented grade schooler.)

The whole album is made up samples and covers aka interpolations. I think the audience is getting tired of songs written by committees. One song has 24 writers, some others 14 or 15. Diane Warren made a comment about that on social media and immediately had to backtrack rather face the wrath of social media misfits who can’t write music but think it’s okay for existing songwriters to be ripped off, etc. Just great.

Just FYI: “Renaissance” has been replaced at number 1 on iTunes today by Eminem’s latest greatest hits package, “Curtain Call part 2.”

One last thing: I love Beyonce’s voice. I’d like to hear her sing some actual songs. She’d have much bigger hits if she did some cool covers produced properly.

Box Office: “Bullet Train” Speeds to $4.6 Million Previews, “Nope” Drops Chunk of Theaters, “Easter Sunday” No Resurrection

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Bullet Train” Speeds to $4.6 Million Previews, “Nope” Drops Chunk of Theaters, “Easter Sunday” No Resurrection

It’s not easy out there in box office land.

Last night Brad Pitt’s “Bullet Train” sped to $4.6 million in previews. Now the whole ride depends on word of mouth and Brad’s good will as reviews are mixed to poor. “Bullet Train” could pull off a big Friday because theaters are air conditioned and a cheap way to escape the terrible weather “gripping the nation,” to quote Al Roker.

My guesstimate is a less than $40 mil weekend but who knows?

Meantime, “Nope” is losing 800 theaters today per Exhibitor Relations. It’s still playing in 3000 locations, but this is Universal’s way of acknowledging that Jordan Peele’s third movie is no “Get Out,” not a phenomenon, and the initial novelty has worn off quickly. This is the equivalent of Donna Langley coming out to the mound and removing Peele before things get worse. If only Aaron Boone would follow Langley’s lead more often, especially with Gerritt Cole.

Let’s not be be Koy: The other bust for the weekend looks to be Jo Koy’s “Easter Sunday,” which has a 33 on Rotten Tomatoes among critics and a low 72 in audience score. This is not going to be the Filipino “Crazy Rich Asians.” Total last night was just $500,000.

UPDATE Warner Discovery Stock CLOSES DOWN 16.5% as Zaslav Backs Off Bad News But It’s Still Taken That Way

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE Warner Discovery Stock CLOSES DOWN 16.5% as Zaslav Backs Off Bad News But It’s Still Taken That Way

UPDATE: Stock closed down 16.5%, at 14.50 down 1.00 from Monday.

Yesterday afternoon’s earnings call for Warner Discovery was like a wild opera. You just kept waiting for the fat lady to sing.

In the end, she didn’t. The whole thing, almost two hours, came to naught. Whatever seemed like to might happen didn’t.

Nevertheless, Warner Discovery stock this morning is down almost 16%, off by nearly $3. Even though there was no news, everyone took it badly.

You could say David Zaslav blinked. The call had been preceded by PR trial balloons. On social media, everyone fretted that HBO Max would disappear, subsumed into Discovery Plus. With the cancellation of “Batgirl,” the question remained about “The Flash” since star Ezra Miller has become Hollywood’s Least Wanted, with scandals galore trailing after him.

Perhaps Zaslav actually got the message that anything beyond the “Batgirl” debacle would cause the opera to turn into “Gotterdammerung.” There would be floods and fires. The world as we know it would collapse. So he backed off.

We left the call not knowing what the new combined streaming service would be called. It became clear through the two hours that HBO Max has become a popular brand. Asked about it, Zaslav started singing anthems about HBO chief Casey Bloys. “He’s staying for five years!” Zaslav purred. e also said, “HBO Max is the centerpiece of our streaming plan” and “We embrace and support HBO Max.” (If I were HBO Max, I’d be calling my divorce lawyer and a private eye.)

Then Zaslac endorsed “The Flash,” including it in films he’s very proud of.( That is, until Ezra Miller is arrested as a serial killer.) You know, why say it’s dead now when it’s a year away? And most importantly: Will there be massive layoffs when HBO Max and Discovery Plus merge? Shhhh…No one brought that up.

For now…

Review: Broadway All Stars Make “Into the Woods” The Show of the Summer, and Fall, and…

Roger Friedman
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Review: Broadway All Stars Make “Into the Woods” The Show of the Summer, and Fall, and…

Where was I was on July 9th when “Into the Woods” opened at the St. James Theater? I have no idea, and no excuse for not having been there when this revival of Stephen Sondheim’s whimsical and serious musical opened on Broadway after a run at City Center’s Encores. Maybe I thought, oh, you know it, you were there in 1987, and then there was the movie…

But you know, you haven’t seen “Into the Woods” until you’ve experienced this pared down, incredibly inventive version that lets James Lapine’s wonderful book and Sondheim’s gorgeous score step forward from its previously busy sets. Plus, now we’ve got a cast of Broadway all-stars, mostly the young heroes of The Great White Way, the best of the current generation, just sublimely throwing down.

“Into the Woods” just got extended until October 16th, but some of the cast will change after September 4th. Either way, it’s the gift you must give yourself.

First up we have Brian D’Arcy James and Sara Bareilles as the Baker and his wife. Patina Miller is The Witch, Phillippa Soo is Cinderella, Josh Henry is one of the two princes, Julia Lester is Little Red Riding Hood, and Cole Thompson is Jack. They are a dream team. At my matinee on Wednesday, the other prince was played by Jason Forbach, who had the part at Encores, was replaced by Gavin Creel, who was replaced by Cheyenne Jackson, who was out for our performance. Forbach is hilarious and very comfortable in the role.

Who steals this show? Patina Miller is the obvious answer. In Act I she’s frightening and cocky. In Act 2, she’s glamorous and sultry. She’s on TV shows but I avoid them because she doesn’t get to sing. Miller is a rock star. When the lights go down to start the show, the audience goes berserk screaming before a note is sung. Is it for Miller? Or D’Arcy James, who’s got Broadway, movie, and TV credits galore? Or Soo, who won the Tony for “Hamilton”? Or Henry, whose voice has brought him three Tony nominations plus he’s played Aaron Burr, too. Or is it just the show?

A lot of the audience knows the movie by now. Back when “Into the Woods” first opened in 1987, we knew nothing except it followed a number of Sondheim shows like the best one, “Sweeney Todd.” It seemed a little, uh, trivial. But in time its purpose grew. A bunch of characters we knew separately are first playing their own game of “Survivor” til they reach a happy ending with Act 1. What’s left for them? As with “Sunday in the Park with George,” we are about to get a profound answer about community, art, and love.

The new staging, with masterful scenic design by David Rockwell, eliminates the Beanstalk and the Giant in favor of cleverer pursuits. Maybe the old stage was just too cluttered but now the whole essence of “Into the Woods” comes through. We’re no longer looking for gimmicks, we’re able to savor the essence more than the Wolf ( who meets his demise early) gets to appreciate his short-lived meal of Red and her Grandma.

The result is the score becomes the main character, and you can’t wait to see what each of these Broadway bombers will do with their numbers. Most shows have their hits distributed throughout, or balanced from act to act. But “Into the Woods” is a curve ball. The last two numbers after two hours plus intermission and then some are’ “No One is Alone” and “Children Will Listen.” They are Sondheim classics, they are not big brassy endings but gorgeous pleas. I was thinking, if Lapine’s story is a children’s book, you want to end on thoughtful notes so the kids will go to sleep now. The only difference here is that when the stage goes black, the audience erupts like it’s Beatlemania or Sinatra at the Paramount.

Can “Into the Woods” keep going all winter? Will the main cast stay? They have a lot of obligations elsewhere. But this would be the 2023 Tony winner for Best Revival of a Musical, and all these original cast will be celebrated with a parade next June.

Pay Up! Judge Reaffirms Kevin Spacey’s $31 Million Judgement from “House of Cards” Producer

Roger Friedman
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Pay Up! Judge Reaffirms Kevin Spacey’s $31 Million Judgement from “House of Cards” Producer

You may recall last November Kevin Spacey was ordered to pay the producer of “House of Cards” $31 million.

I wrote about it here.

Today, a judge in LA Superior Court reaffirmed the judgement. Kevin has to pay up, the same amount OJ Simpson was ordered to pay Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman’s families back in 1996.

The irony here is that Spacey must pay MRC, the production company owned by Todd Boehly, formerly of Guggenheim Partners. He is very rich, Todd Boehly. He owns a lot of things including Dick Clark Productions and the Golden Globes. He’s partners in The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard.  He has 20% of the Los Angeles Dodgers. And now he has Kevin Spacey.

This is all because Spacey’s career fell apart from accusations of sexual malfeasance before starting the final season of “House of Cards.” The show had to be rewritten, he missed the season, and the court ruled MRC suffered because of it.

Does Kevin Spacey have $31 million? Boehly is as likely to see that money as the Goldmans and Brown are to get something from Simpson.

Diddy Begs DeeJays to Play His Dead “Gotta Move On” Single — from Vacation on the Isle of Capri!

Roger Friedman
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Diddy Begs DeeJays to Play His Dead “Gotta Move On” Single — from Vacation on the Isle of Capri!

Poor Sean Diddy Combs.

No one bought or listened to the singer he produced with Bryson Tiller called “Gotta Move On.” Everyone moved on including radio! Total sales in 10 weeks have come to 90,000 almost only from streaming. Actual sales are 1,875.

So now what? Combs has posted a video begging radio deejays to abandon their playlists and spin the record, despite the fact that it is DEAD. In the video, Puffy looks a little…puffy, frankly. He doesn’t say where he is, but then comes the kicker: he’s on the Isle of Capri, where vacations begin at $100,000.

LOL. Mo money, mo problems. I doubt these phantom dee jays are going to be very sympathetic to this plea. But more power to Puffy. He’s living his best life!

LIVE UPDATING Warner Discovery Will Merge HBO Max with Discovery Plus, Brands Remain, “Batgirl” Was No Good, “Our job is to protect the DC brand”

Roger Friedman
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LIVE UPDATING Warner Discovery Will Merge HBO Max with Discovery Plus, Brands Remain, “Batgirl” Was No Good, “Our job is to protect the DC brand”

The Warner Discovery call is now in the Q&A section. The biggest takeways so far are that HBO Max will not disappear, as I reported yesterday. HBO Max and Discovery Plus will be combined, however. On the subject of “Batgirl,” David Zaslav said: “Our job is to protect the DC brand.” He said the focus is on quality. we won’t release a movie unless it’s ready.” He added: DC is something we can make better.” Warner Discovery will turn DC into a studio a la Marvel with a 10 year plan.

Zaslav praised the HBO team, calling Casey Bloys a “unicorn.” He emphasized: “We embrace and support HBO Max…HBO Max is the centerpiece of our streaming platform.”

But clearly “Batgirl” fell short not just as too big vs too small but just not good. It’s rare when a studio looks at a finished product and admits failure. I wish they did it more often!

There was no discussion of layoffs, as feared. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be any…

earlier–

The fun begins at 4:30pm Eastern. Warner Discovery stock closed slightly up today at $17.48 which is nice but well below its high of $31 a year ago. David Zaslav and Discovery bought WarnerMedia from ATT , the deal closed April 8, 2022. We are far from the halcyon days of Time Warner when content was king, HBO was the crown jewel, CNN was revered, and so on. We’re new territory here.

Earlier: HBO Max Rebranding Not Happening

UPDATING David Zaslav comments:

The big question — will HBO Max disappear? As I reported yesterday

“We will fully embrace theatrical.”

Streaming: HBO Max and Discovery Plus under one entity

Ad supported streaming for non subscribers

Operate as one company with one mission. Combined enterprise. HBO, WB, et al we are stronger together.

“House of Dragons” biggest campaign in our history.

JB Perrette took over the call.

Over paying and over investing in content– we don’t believe in this.

Focus is consumer choice.

Combining SVOD with ad lite and ad free.

Ad free and ad lite: Combination of HBO Max and Discovery Plus. They are distinct in their appeal. The two services are different.

Discovery Plus adds CNN hub. HBO Max will begin hosting Magnolia Content from Joanna and Chip Gaines.

First news:

Financial Summary & Operational Highlights:

  • Q2 total reported revenues were $9,827 million. Pro forma combined revenues decreased 1% ex-FX compared to the prior year quarter.

  • Net loss available to Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. was $(3,418) million, and includes $2,004 million of amortization of intangibles, $1,033 million of restructuring and other charges, and $983 million of transaction and integration expenses.

  • Total reported Adjusted EBITDA was $1,664 million. Pro forma combined Adjusted EBITDA decreased 31% ex-FX compared to the prior year quarter.

  • Cash provided by operating activities increased to $1,011 million and reported free cash flow increased to $789 million.

  • Ended Q2 with $3,896 million of cash on hand, gross debt of $53.0 billion, and net leverage of 5.0x.

  • Ended Q2 with 92.1 million global DTC subscribers, an increase of 1.7 million versus 90.4 million subscribers at the end of Q1, as adjusted for the Company’s new DTC subscriber definition. The new definition resulted in the exclusion of 10 million legacy Discovery non-core subscribers and unactivated AT&T mobility subscribers from the Q1 subscriber count.

  • Warner Bros. Discovery was the #1 TV portfolio for total time spent by viewers in the U.S., TNT was the #1 TV network overall for Men 18-49 & 18-34, driven by sports, and TLC was the #1 cable network in the industry, ex-sports, in Primetime for Women 25-54.

  • Re-extended our agreement with AT&T to continue to offer its internet and mobility customers access to HBO Max’s portfolio of original programming and series.

NY Film Festival Centerpiece Film Will Be About Sacklers and Opioids from Controversial Filmmaker

Roger Friedman
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NY Film Festival Centerpiece Film Will Be About Sacklers and Opioids from Controversial Filmmaker

Laura Poitras’s “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is the Centerpiece Selection of the New York Film Festival.

“Beauty” chronicles the path of famed photographer Nan Goldin, the partner of controversial photographer Bruce Weber, in her investigation of the opioid manufacturing Sackler family. They’re the wealthy villains also of “Dopesick,” the book and TV show.

Poitras won an Oscar for “Citizen Four,” about whistleblower Edward Snowden. But she lost of steam with a film about Wikileaks and Julian Assange, called “Risk,” when it was revealed she’d been sleeping with one of Assange’s followers while making the movie. It was eventually dumped onto Showtime.

“Beauty” is an odd choice for Centerpiece Film for the Festival. It’s made by Participant Films but has no distributor or announced streaming deal. Unlike the opening night film, “White Noise,” from Netflix, it’s not really a marquee title. It has no actors to walk a red carpet, and little PR sizzle. But Goldin has the art connection in New York, and the Sacklers are notorious for having their infamous names removed from art galleries at famous museums.

It will be interesting to see what the NY Film Festival will choose for their closing night film.

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