Disney Board Shuffle: Former Sky Chief Jeremy Darroch, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman Appointed Directors As Francis A. deSouza Plans To Surrender His Seat

EXCLUSIVE: Two months after Julia Ormond sued CAA, Disney and Harvey Weinstein for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, battery and more over a 1995 sexual assault by the now incarcerated Pulp Fiction EP, the uberagency and the Bob Iger-led corporation say they shouldn’t be a part of the suit and want out.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.K. based sales and distribution outfit Blue Finch Films has boarded worldwide rights to thriller “Steppenwolf” from writer-director Adilkhan Yerzhanov, whose credits include the Cannes selected titles “The Owners” and “The Gentle Indifference of the World.” The film will have its world premiere at next month’s International Film Festival Rotterdam as part of the Big Screen Competition. “Steppenwolf” is a brutal story of an unlikely duo who will stop at nothing to find what they are looking for.

“The Crown.”The finale of the Netflix series, which dropped Thursday, shows Imelda Staunton, Olivia Colman, and Claire Foy gathering at St. George’s Chapel, where Queen Elizabeth was buried last year.The three actresses play the queen at different times in her life in “The Crown.” Her real-life former press secretary, Dickie Arbiter, was not impressed by Staunton and Colman’s characterizations.“I don’t remember her being glum and boring,” Arbiter, 83, told Deadline of the queen played by Staunton, 67.

EXCLUSIVE: The Crown‘s finale dropped on Thursday and featured a surprise coming together of the three incarnations of Queen Elizabeth II.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Activist investor Nelson Peltz, who’s looking to shake up Disney‘s board, plans to nominate two directors as candidates for directors of the Mouse House’s board: Peltz himself, and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo. Peltz’s Trian Fund Management said Thursday it submitted a notice of its intention to nominate the two independent director candidates at Disney’s 2024 annual shareholders meeting, expected to be held next spring.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A judge on Friday certified a class action lawsuit that alleges that Disney paid 9,000 women less than their male counterparts. The suit is the largest ever certified under California’s Equal Pay Act, which makes it illegal for workers to be paid less for substantially similar work based on their gender. Lori Andrus, the plaintiffs’ attorney, applauded the ruling outside the courtroom in downtown Los Angeles.

Ethan Shanfeld “The Bikeriders” is vroom vrooming into theaters June 21, 2024, via Focus Features, after Disney removed the Austin Butler vehicle from its slate. Disney and 20th Century were originally set to open the film on Dec. 1, but its backer, New Regency, opted in October to take the film off of its release calendar.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor ESPN is, for at least one week this season, really doubling down on “Monday Night Football.” The Walt Disney-backed sports-media outlet plans to simulcast two different Monday-night games on December 11, its latest gridiron maneuver that has already seen the football-TV mainstay air on both ESPN and ABC for the bulk of the regular season in a bid to fill schedules during the recent Hollywood labor strikes. A Monday-night game between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants will kick off December 11 at 8:15 p.m. eastern, anchored by Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, with Lisa Salters on the sidelines.

Tonight, Lifetime will jump on the sentimental trend of reuniting veteran actresses for our giddy enjoyment by airing Ladies of the 80s: A Divas Christmas, a festive romp that stars Loni Anderson (WKRP in Cincinnati), Morgan Fairchild (Falcon Crest), Linda Gray (Dallas), Donna Mills (Knots Landing) and Nicollette Sheridan (Knots Landing). 

Charlie Amter Few artists ever have had a year on the scale of Morgan Wallen’s 2023. The crossover country star broke multiple streaming and radio records — such as having his smash “Last Night” become the longest-running solo No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100 history, with 16 weeks atop the chart — all while picking up the millions of new fans that helped sell out shows nationwide.

EXCLUSIVE: Married actors Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) and Mark Menchaca (Ozark) have been set to star in Long Pork, a revenge thriller short helmed by up-and-comer Iris Dukatt, who also wrote the screenplay.

is a Marvel star and was also one of the Kens in the hit “Barbie” movie, announced on his Instagram Story on Thursday that he had to drop out of a planned appearance in Disney World’s 2023 Candlelight Processional, due to unspecified “health scares.” “I’m so absolutely gutted to have to drop out,” he wrote. The Candlelight Processional retells the Christmas story with a celebrity narrator, orchestra and choir. It was scheduled to be narrated by Liu from Nov.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The same day activist investor Nelson Peltz announced he was launching a proxy campaign to get seats on Disney’s board of directors, the company adopted amended bylaws covering nominations of directors by outside parties. In a bid to win shareholder favor amid the brewing proxy battle, Disney separately on Thursday announced a cash dividend of $0.30 per share, payable Jan.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Linda Yaccarino, who’s already facing an uphill battle in winning over advertisers to X, has her work cut out for her to restore trust with big marketers after her boss profanely dissed those who had suspended advertising from the platform. Almost six months into her gig as CEO of X, Yaccarino continues to try to clean up PR messes created by Elon Musk, the shoot-from-the-lip megabillionaire and self-appointed defender of free speech who owns the company formerly known as Twitter.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After activist investor Nelson Peltz announced his intention to renew his proxy battle to secure seats on Disney’s board, the company responded by alleging former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter — who is in league with Peltz’s Trian Fund Management — has a personal grudge against Disney chief Bob Iger. In a statement responding to Trian’s announcement, Disney said that Perlmutter “was terminated from his employment by Disney earlier this year and has voiced his longstanding personal agenda against Disney’s CEO, Robert A.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Nelson Peltz is renewing his fight to shake up Disney‘s board. Peltz’s Trian Fund Management investment firm, which owns about $3 billion in Disney stock, issued a statement Thursday that after the Mouse House’s board rejected Trian’s request for board seats, the hedge fund will “take our case for change directly to shareholders.” Trian is seeking two seats on Disney’s board, CNBC reported.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Disney CEO Bob Iger said at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit (via CNBC) following “The Marvels” flopping at the box office that there was a lack of supervision on the set of the film as a result of the COVID pandemic. The combination of pandemic set restrictions and Disney’s increased output due to the launch of streamer Disney+ made it increasingly difficult for studio executives to oversee the onslaught of new productions.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney‘s board named Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and former Sky chief Jeremy Darroch as new directors Wednesday. Additionally, Disney has announced that board member Francis A. deSouza, former president and CEO of Illumina, will not stand for reelection at the company’s upcoming annual meeting, “as he pursues new opportunities in the technology sector that will require his full attention.” The news comes one day after Disney held a company-wide town hall featuring CEO Bob Iger and his top lieutenants discussing the state of the business.

Shifting away from sentiments he expressed in an interview last summer that Disney‘s linear TV networks “may not be core” to the company, Disney CEO Bob Iger said they are “not for sale.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Bob Iger, just over one year after returning as Disney‘s CEO following the company’s board firing of previous chief Bob Chapek, said publicly that he was dismayed at the Mouse House’s performance under Chapek’s tenure. Iger, who had selected Chapek, formerly head of Disney’s parks division, to succeed him in February 2020, made the comments Wednesday at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit in New York.