Black Equity Television: Why Paramount Global Should Turn BET Into a Community-Owned Network (Guest Column)

Jackie Baillie has told how she thought someone was “pulling her leg” after receiving a letter telling her she would be made a dame – saying she will accept her top honour on behalf of the communities she serves.

Kyle C. Olson With the Hollywood writers strike ongoing, there is much focus on fair pay. That fight is overshadowing another critical issue for the creative community: credit attribution. The recent uproar over the credit problems as HBO Max transition to Max highlighted the problem. But it only scratched the surface. Having worked on several high-profile productions lately, I’ve observed a worrying trend: studios increasingly tightening their grip on the awarding of credits, even when the contributions made are unquestionably significant. In the expansive universe of film and television, numerous unseen professionals toil behind the scenes, their collaborative efforts helping to craft captivating stories that awe audiences. Yet, surprisingly, many of these pivotal contributors find their names missing from the closing credits. This glaring oversight begs the question: why is it so difficult to adequately credit everyone involved in a production?

Charli Burnett explained why Vanderpump Rules fans may not see her on season 11 — and it mainly has to do with Raquel Leviss.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic The first episode of “Black Mirror’s” new, sixth season features a tableau with which its viewers will likely be intimately familiar: A couple, sitting on their couch, deciding what to stream in the evening. This being “Black Mirror,” their choice of programming will have mind-bending consequences; this being latter-day “Black Mirror,” it’s also a reflexive comment on its medium. In “Joan Is Awful,” a woman (Annie Murphy) watches a series that seems directly cribbed from her life, one in which she’s played by Salma Hayek Pinault and in which every interaction she has is blown up to show her to her worst advantage. Everyone else watches it too: Such is the power of the fictional-but-barely “Streamberry,” a service with Netflix’s aesthetic, reach, and industry-conquering ambition.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kevin Spacey alleged in a new interview with ZEITmagazin that people will start hiring him for more acting projects if he is cleared of sexual assault charges in London following an upcoming trial that is set to begin on June 28. The Oscar winner was charged one year go in London with four counts of sexual assault, relating to alleged incidents that took place between 2005 and 2013. “It’s a time in which a lot of people are very afraid that if they support me, they will be cancelled,” Spacey said about his career. “But I know that there are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges in London. The second that happens, they’re ready to move forward.”

Kevin Spacey is speaking out in a new interview, blaming the media for cratering his once-successful Hollywood career after it all came crashing down in 2017 in the wake of multiple allegations of sexual assault.

365 days. 52 goals. Nine assists. Three trophies.

Paramount Global is “deep into the marketing process” for publisher Simon & Schuster and can see a path to closing a deal this year, CFO Naveen Chopra said today, putting the first timeframe on a sale.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Playing a man who gets entangled in a murder investigation because his wife (Kaley Cuoco) is obsessed with true crime, “Based on a True Story” kind of hits close to home for Chris Messina. When he was a kid, he and a friend actually may have actually discovered a crime scene. “I grew up in Northport, Long Island,” Messina told Variety at the Peacock series’ premiere Thursday at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. “I grew up on Makamah Road, about a block from the Long Island Sound. A buddy and I walked to the Sound and – it was very ‘Stand By Me’ – we found a hand that washed up on the beach.” They immediately called the cops. “We had to report it,” Messina recalled. “I was pretending to be River Phoenix in ‘Stand By Me.’”

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland Even if you don’t work in the film and television industry, odds are you know there’s trouble brewing in Hollywood. You’ve probably heard about the Writers Guild strike and maybe you also know that SAG-AFTRA members voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike authorization, and you might be wondering, “What’s this all about?” The short answer is that it’s about the viability of making a living and having a career in the entertainment industry. In the quest for ever-greater profits, multimillionaire executives are looking for anywhere they can cut costs. They have raised prices, they have cracked down on password sharing, and now they’re coming for the people who make the shows.

EastEnders star James Alexandrou became a well-known face of the BBC soap after making his debut as Martin Fowler when he was just a child. James, 38, took over the role of Martin Fowler from actor Joe Peyton Price back in 1996, when he was around 11 years old and quickly made his mark on the show. During his stint on EastEnders, he had his fair share of on-screen drama from an underage pregnancy storyline to time in prison - it wasn't always easy for the character, especially with feisty Pauline Fowler as his mum (played by Wendy Richard).

He has boldly gone where few people have gone before, and William Shatner likely will not go back. After earning a once-in-a-lifetime ticket on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin spacecraft in 2021, Shatner returned to Earth consumed with feelings of "grief." He compared going back on a galactic journey to "revisiting a love affair" and told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that he should probably "let it alone." Shatner's deep connection to space exploration began more than 50 years ago when he starred as Captain James T. Kirk on the legendary television series, "Star Trek." His celestial affinity may be written in the stars now that he has plans to stay grounded for the foreseeable future, but Shatner will not stay away from interplanetary drama for too long as the host of the new FOX unscripted series, "Stars on Mars." In 2021, Shatner made history when he became the oldest living person to travel into space during an 11-minute trek aboard the New Shepard spacecraft.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor From Paul Lee’s perspective, the streaming boom that led Hollywood to binge on original content has evolved significantly during his half-dozen years as CEO of production company Wiip. Over the past year, the industry has been through “a moment where the streaming revolution went from a land grab to ‘This land needs to be fertile,’ ” Lee says on the latest episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business.” Lee spent a dozen years at Disney, rising to become head of ABC Family and later head of ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios. He’s mostly kept a low profile since launching Wiip in partnership with CAA in 2016.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic You can easily hear the impact of Tina Turner in the music of Yola, one of the greatest singers of our generation. But it goes far beyond any basic level of influence for this British-bred, now Nashville-based powerhouse. Before becoming a recording artist and Grammy nominee, back in her native U.K., she was a teacher and lecturer in vocal biomechanics who would instruct young singers in how to emulate Turner’s singular voice… or at least how to try. Yola spoke with Variety about Turner, who died May 24 at age 83. These are some of her thoughts, on everything from Tina’s pure technique to the unique challenges she faced as a Black stylist without parallels or filters to her place in genre-bridging musical history.

Tina Turner died this past Wednesday, shocking the world. The singer and actress was a cultural icon, someone who achieved global acclaim by making music that mattered and shed a light on her personal struggles. Turner spent her last decades of life in Switzerland, acquiring a citizenship and often speaking about the perks of her new life.

Naman Ramachandran U.K. public service broadcaster Channel 4 and Lloyds Bank have revealed Black in Business, an initiative to help boost up to five Black-owned businesses with TV advertising airtime worth £100,000 ($123,400) each. The business owners will also have a bespoke TV commercial made for them and six months of tailored marketing and business support from Channel 4, Lloyds Bank and social enterprise DOES. The initiative is designed to support to small businesses that are new to TV advertising and comes after research commissioned by Channel 4’s commercial arm, 4Sales, earlier this year revealed that Black entrepreneurs face more obstacles setting up and running their businesses than their white counterparts. It is part of Channel 4’s Black to Front legacy, an ongoing commitment to improve Black representation on-screen and more widely in the TV industry.

National Amusements, the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global run by Shari Redstone, has received a $125 million preferred equity investment from BDT Capital Partners.

Tina Turner, the legendary Queen of Rock 'n' Roll, with an exclusive Entertainment Tonight news special, , that will air Thursday, May 25 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.BET Her and VH1 will air an encore of the special Friday, May 26 at 10 a.m. ET/PT and 6 p.m.

death of Tina Turner at age 83, a clip of the singer explaining why she renounced US citizenship and moved to Switzerland has resurfaced.“I have left America because my success was in another country,” the rock ‘n’ roll legend said in a 1997 CNN interview with the late Larry King.“‘Private Dancer’ was the beginning of my success in England. And basically, Europe has been very supportive of my music.”When asked if Europe was more supportive than America, Turner responded, “Yes, hugely.”King pointed out that Turner was a superstar in America, but she retorted back, saying she was “not as big as Madonna” in the States.“I’m as big as Madonna in Europe,” she shared with a smile on her face.

Angela Bassett received her first Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Tina Turner in the iconic 1993 biopic What’s Love Got To Do With It?