ABC News to Lose 50 Staffers in Disney Layoffs, Executive Team Reshuffled

It’s always a treat when a former “Saturday Night Live” cast member returns to host, and this week’s episode features the return of Molly Shannon.

Caitlyn Jenner is going after “woke” Nike because they dared to… pick a transgender influencer to promote their sports bras…

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Vivian Trimble, a multi-instrumentalist and singer best known for her 1990s work with Luscious Jackson, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer, a rep for the band confirms to Variety. She was 59. A dancer and choreographer as well as a musician, Trimble (pictured above, far right, with the group in 1995), also released collaboration albums with Luscious Jackson singer-bassist Jill Cunniff in 1995 as the Kostars, and an album with Breeders bassist Josephine Wiggs as Dusty Trails, which featured guest vocals from Emmylou Harris.A post shared by lusciousjackson (@lusciousjackson) Born to classical musicians, Trimble was raised in France and the U.S. and spoke three languages. She attended Oberlin College and met Cunniff in 1991 when both were teaching GED adult education classes in New York.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Liz Tigelaar and Stacey Silverman’s production company, Best Day Ever, has hired ABC Signature’s Abby Chambers, Variety has learned exclusively. Chambers will now serve as vice president of television and production at Best Day Ever. She most recently worked as director of current programming at ABC Signature, where Best Day Ever is set up under an overall deal. “Best Day Ever is beyond thrilled to welcome Abby to the Best Day Ever team,” Tigelaar and Silverman said in a joint statement. “The truth is, after being our studio partner on ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ and ‘Under the Bridge,’ we’d already come to think of her as our own. Her goals align perfectly with ours —to tell stories that feel vital, to center new voices, and to raise up future showrunners—and we feel lucky to have her passion and brilliance with us every day (and who knows, she may even steer us onto projects with non three-word-titles, too).”

Money talks. Kaitlyn Bristowe opened up about getting a stipend shortly before her stint as the season 11 Bachelorette.

Ana Cabrera has been named the new host of MSNBC’s 10 a.m. hour as part of network president Rashida Jones’ ongoing effort to focus on hard news programming.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent The stars and creatives behind Hulu’s “Tiny Beautiful Things” celebrated the premiere of their upcoming show at an ethereal and intimate event, presented by Hulu, ABC Signature and Variety. “Tiny Beautiful Things” stars Kathryn Hahn as an anonymous and revered advice columnist whose own life is falling apart. Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern are among the executive producers behind the buzzy show, which begins streaming on April 7 on Hulu. Adapted for television by Liz Tigelaar, “Tiny Beautiful Things” is based on Cheryl Strayed’s New York Times bestseller of the same name, which is comprised of a collection of essays from Strayed’s “Dear Sugar” advice column, which she wrote anonymously more than a decade ago.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The new New York studio that Nexstar Media Group built for Elizabeth Vargas’ nascent NewsNation program is so big, the anchor believes she could do five cartwheels across if called upon to do so. Starting Monday night, the company begins the process of figuring out if such rigorous calisthenics will be necessary. TV-news aficionados likely know Vargas from her 15-year stint as a co-anchor on ABC News’ “20/20,” but on Monday night, she will jump right into the fray in the information wars, with a program at 6 p.m. eastern – a time slot that has become more competitive in recent months. At MSNBC, for example, Ari Melber’s “The Beat” has become one of that network’s most-watched programs. Late-afternoon has become more of a cable-news battlefield as viewers who have learned to work from home after the coronavirus pandemic tune in earlier to get a recap of the day’s events.

Lisa Barlow is crunching down on trollish accusations that she supports Donald Trump.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Dominion Voting Systems’ whopping $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox Corporation and Fox News is cleared to go to trial, despite the media company’s efforts. Barring a settlement or other unforeseen circumstances, the voting technology company will get to have its attorneys grill Fox News anchors and Fox Corp. executives, Judge Eric M. Davis of Superior Court in State of Delaware ruled in a filing on Friday. “The Court will allow this civil action to go to trial,” Davis said Friday. At issue in the case are damages Dominion alleges it is owed after Fox News aired false claims about its actions and influence on the 2020 election. It is the second legal proceeding made against Fox News for its coverage of the aftermath of the 2020 race for the White House. Smartmatic, a separate voting technology company, has filed a massive $2.7 billion suit against Fox News. Both suits allege that Fox News falsely claimed the companies had rigged the election, repeated items about the matter and then refused to engage in efforts to set the record straight. The 2020 election was not fixed and its results were certified by multiple legal processes.

CNN News Central, the network’s new daytime programming blocks, will begin its roll out next week.

Nick Cave has shared his thoughts on the AI-based platform, ChatGPT, saying that it should “fuck off and leave songwriting alone”.The Bad Seeds frontman made headlines back in January after sharing his less-than-enthusiastic views on using AI platforms to write songs – stating that the process is a “grotesque mockery of what it means to be human”.The comments were initially raised after a fan contacted Cave via his Q&A site, The Red Hand Files, and shared some lyrics generated in his style, made by the AI computer program ChatGPT. “Thanks for the song,” he wrote in his initial response. “But with all the love and respect in the world, this song is bullshit, a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human”.Now, the rock icon has once again spoken out about the AI service being used to create lyrics, and said that he wants it to “fuck off and leave songwriting alone”.“My objection is not with A.I.

Abby Grossberg, the Fox News producer who was fired last week after filing suit against the network, added new details to her allegations that she was coerced by Fox News’ legal team into giving misleading deposition testimony as the network defended itself in Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Leigh Bardugo has signed with WME for representation, Variety has learned exclusively. WME will now rep the New York Times bestselling author for film and TV rights services. New Leaf Literary & Media represents Bardugo for publishing and will now co-represent her with WME in all other areas. Bardugo is best known for writing the so-called Grishaverse novels, which consists of nine books total beginning with the “Shadow and Bone” trilogy. Her books have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Netflix currently airs the series version of “Shadow and Bone,” which is based on the three books of the trilogy as well as Bardugo’s “Six of Crows” duology. The cast of the series includes Jessie Mei Li, Archie Renaux, Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, Kit Young, Danielle Galligan, Calahan Skogman, and Ben Barnes. The series launched on Netflix in April 2021 and was renewed for a second season in June. Season 2 premiered on March 16 of this year and remains in the Netflix Top 10 at the time of this publishing. Bardugo is an executive producer on the series.

There has been no sign of a Mississippi morning news anchor woman since she voiced a Snoop Dogg phrase on air earlier this month. 

Nick Cave will be embarking on a run of North American tour dates later this year.The tour will kick off on September 19 in Asheville, North Carolina before making stops in another 18 cities throughout the US. Cave will then sign off at the end of October with a pair of shows at LA’s Orpheum Theatre.The pre-sale for tickets will go live on Monday (March 27) at 10am local time, before the general sale commences on Friday (March 31), also at 10am local time.You can see the full list of dates below and buy your tickets here.SEPTEMBER19 – Asheville, NC – Thomas Wolfe Auditorium21, – Durham, NC – DPAC23 – Washington, D.C. – Lincoln Theatre25 – Cleveland, OH – Playhouse Square27 – Milwaukee, WE – Riverside Theater29 – Chicago, IL – Auditorium TheatreOCTOBER2 – Minneapolis, MN – State Theatre6 – Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre7 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre10 – Boston, MA – Wang Theatre12 – Montreal, QC – Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier14 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall15 – Detroit, MI – Masonic Cathedral Theatre17 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium20 – Atlanta, GA – Atlanta Symphony Hall22 – Dallas, TX – Majestic Theatre23 – Austin, TX – ACL at The Moody27 – Los Angeles, CA – Orpheum Theatre28 – Los Angeles, CA – Orpheum TheatreCave recently made headlines when he described the late poet and novelist Charles Bukowski as “the bukkake of bad poetry.”“I just don’t like Charles Bukowski.

former president’s own prediction of a Tuesday arrest. “They’re stretching this out like its the finale of ‘American Idol.'”The host then put on his best Ryan Seacrest impression to announce the live finale results: “It’s time to find out whether or not Trump is getting arrested.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Universal Pictures Distribution and Marketing EVP John C. Hall has joined the team at American-European media fund APX Group, as it continues to restructure and expand ahead of a planned listing on the New York Stock Exchange later this year.

Sophia Scorziello editor “Indian Matchmaking” Season 3 will premiere April 21 on Netflix, the streamer announced Tuesday. Mumbai’s matchmaker Sima Taparia returns to help single millennials around the world find love, employing decades-worth of experience and traditional methods. This season, Sima’s matchmaking touch will reach from New York to New Delhi, Miami to London, as well as clients both old and new.  “Indian Matchmaking” premiered its first season in July 2020. The show is executive produced by Aaron Saidman, Eli Holzman, Smriti Mundhra and J.C. Begley. Check out some first looks of season three below.  Also in today’s TV news:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor A producer for Fox News who has worked for Maria Batirormo and Tucker Carlson alleged in court filings Monday that she was coerced by executives into providing misleading testimony in the $1.6 billion defamation suit that Dominion Voting Systems has levied against the Fox Corp.-backed outlet. In filings made Monday Delaware Superior Court and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Abby Grossberg, who had worked as a senior booking producer for Bartiromo and head of booking for Tucker Carlson, alleged that Fox attorneys worked to “coach, manipulate, and coerce Ms. Grossberg to deliver shaded and/or incomplete answers during her sworn deposition testimony, which answers were clearly to her reputational detriment but greatly benefitted Fox News,” according to the Delaware lawsuit.