Jennifer Turner Promoted to Head of Sony Pictures’ TriStar Television

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterWendy Williams is denying accusations about the state of her mental health following her bank Wells Fargo freezing her accounts and requesting a hearing from the New York Supreme Court to determine whether the TV personality, who has been on hiatus from “The Wendy Williams Show” since July 2021 due to health complications, is an “incapacitated person” who needs a temporary guardianship.“On behalf of Wendy Hunter, professionally known as Wendy Williams, as counsel to her and her affairs, Wendy wants the world to know that she strenuously denies all allegations about her mental health and well-being,” Williams’ attorney, LaShawn Thomas, said in a statement provided by publicist Shawn Zanotti to Variety Monday. “During this hiatus from the show, Wendy has employed holistic health professionals to help her reach optimal health during her treatment of Graves’ disease and thyroid concerns.” As Variety reported last week, Williams will not be returning to her daytime talk show this season, and the future of her show remains in flux.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNBC briefly misidentified singer Mickey Guyton as Jhene Aiko during a preshow performance at Super Bowl LVI on Sunday.As seen in the video below, the broadcast network first panned over Guyton with a chyron that labeled her as “Jhene Aiko” during Aiko’s performance of “America the Beautiful.” A few seconds later, the incorrect name disappeared under Guyton and cameras shifted to Aiko, who was singing, and a new chyron correctly identified her as “Jhene Aiko.”When Aiko concluded her performance of “America the Beauitful,” Guyton sang the National Anthem ahead of the kickoff for the big game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals.Representatives for NBC Sports did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment on the error Sunday. More to come…@NBCNews #SuperBowlLVI ummm… who confused Jhene Aiko and Mickey Guyton? Its tone deaf….

Ellise Shafer The SF Studios comedy “A Man Called Otto,” starring Tom Hanks, has been acquired by Sony Pictures for $60 million.The sale marks the largest deal to date at the virtual European Film Market, surpassing Netflix’s $55 million acquisition of “The Pale Blue Eye” last year. Directed by Marc Forster, “A Man Called Otto” sparked a fierce bidding war with Sony ultimately coming out on top with the film’s worldwide rights. It will be released in theaters.Based on Fredrik Backman’s bestselling novel “A Man Called Ove,” the film tells the story of Otto (Hanks), a grumpy and strict widower who upholds the rest of his neighborhood to his staunch rules.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Insecure” creator and star Issa Rae has been named the recipient of the Producers Guild Awards’ 2022 Visionary Award.The Visionary Award honors producers across television, film or new media who share inspiring, uplifting stories that add unique value to society and culture. Past recipients include: Octavia Spencer, Kenya Barris, Ava DuVernay, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner’s Plan B Entertainment, Illumination Entertainment’s Chis Meledandri, Laura Ziskin and Participant Media’s Jeff Skoll.Rae first garnered attention for her web series and subsequent best-selling book, “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.” She created and stars in HBO’s “Insecure,” which just concluded its fifth and final season in December.

Sony Pictures Television and WarnerMedia have extended a content deal that will see the likes of Spider Man: No Way Home and Ghostbusters: Afterlife made available on HBO Max and HBO channels across Central Eastern Europe.

Sony Pictures Classics has pushed back the theatrical release date for Eva Husson’s romantic drama Mothering Sunday, starring Odessa Young, by a month—from February 25 to March 25. It will open in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, on the heels of a one-week, awards-qualifying run in Los Angeles in November of 2021, before expanding to other markets over the following weeks.

Jennifer Lopez and Hoda Kotb would end up on the same cover —one talking about love and the other because of a split. Lopez, who is promoting her upcoming movie Marry Me, visited the NBC News morning show Today to talk about the film and her most recent magazine cover.

Hoda Kotb got more than she bargained for during an interview with Jennifer Lopez on the Today show on Thursday.MORE: Inside Hoda Kotb's stylish home where she will co-parent her kids with ex Joel SchiffmanThe TV star was teased about her recent break-up from fiancé Joel Schiffman after she probed JLo about her rekindled romance with Ben Affleck. Despite the singer recently opening up to People magazine about how much she loves her on-again beau, she didn't feel like relaying that message on national TV.WATCH: Jennifer Lopez reveals why she wants to keep Ben Affleck romance privateBut when Hoda pushed for information on their relationship, Jennifer soon turned the tables on her own love life.Holding up a copy of Jennifer's recent magazine cover, Hoda used her hand to try and hide a news story about her split from Joel.MORE: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck tour $85m mansion – complete with boxing ringMORE: Hoda Kotb's love story with Joel Schiffman - how they met unexpectedlyHowever, the Jenny From the Block singer noticed her move and teasingly said to Hoda: "Why are you trying to block out the corner? You don't want to talk about your personal stuff? Is that what it is, Hoda?" Realizing the situation, Hoda simply replied: "Touche." Hoda tried to hide a story on her break-up from JoelThere appeared to be no hard feelings between the pair though as they both laughed off the awkward exchange while Hoda's delighted co-host, Savannah Guthrie, called the jab "mutually assured destruction".Jennifer and Ben were first linked again last April after ending their original romance in 2004.

Jennifer Lopez's latest interview with Hoda Kotb included both women's personal lives coming up in conversation. The 52-year-old actress appeared on Thursday's episode of the show to promote her new flick, , and the questions eventually turned to her rekindled romance with Ben Affleck. In turn, Lopez mentioned Kotb's recent split from Joel Schiffman.At first, Kotb and Savannah Guthrie only alluded to Lopez and Affleck's relationship in the context of the movie, in which Lopez plays a pop star who struggles with her personal life being in the spotlight but ultimately decides to give love another chance.

Refresh for latest…: With a major assist from the phenomenal global box office performance of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Sony Pictures Entertainment has recorded a third-quarter profit of $1.314 billion, up a staggering 570% from the comparable period in 2020. Revenues saw a 122% increase to $4.063 billion versus the same quarter the previous year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSony’s pictures division achieved net profits of $1.3 billion in the three months to December 2021, boosted by a return to theatrical releasing and the blockbuster performance of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” The $1.31 billion figure compares with profits of $194 million in the equivalent quarter of 2020, and with profits of $288 million in the preceding three months to end of September 2021.Parent company, Sony Group’s net profits grew by 20% in the three months to December 2021 hitting JPY461 billion. Sales were up by 13% to JPY3.03 trillion.The bumper results, unusually, made the pictures division the largest contributor to Sony’s consolidated net profits.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThe Los Angeles Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 on Sunday to clinch the NFC Championship in a Fox primetime broadcast that drew more than 50 million viewers. That makes it the most-watched NFC Championship since 2014.A total of 50,420,000 viewers tuned in across Fox, Fox Deportes, Fox Sports streaming platforms, NFL Digital and Yahoo! Sports properties for the telecast. Viewership for the game peaked at 55,218,000 from 9:15-9:30 p.m.

EXCLUSIVE: Teresa Hsiao, co-creator, executive producer and showrunner of Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens, has signed an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television to develop comedy and animation for cable streaming platforms via her Red 136 Productions.

Naman Ramachandran Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has acquired exclusive South Asia media rights for the 2022 Asian Games taking place later this year at Hangzhou, China. SPN will have the rights to broadcast the games across its sports channels in India and the subcontinent including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Maldives, and on streamer SonyLIV through Sept. 2023.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterChad Matthews has been named president of ABC Owned Television Stations, effective immediately. He takes over the position vacated by Wendy McMahon, who exited the company last year.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Living,” an acclaimed re-imagining of Akira Kurosawa’s classic meaning-of-life story, has been sold to Sony Pictures Classics follow its premiere at Sundance Film Festival.Sony Pictures Classics, the indie division of Sony Pictures, has acquired rights in North America, Latin America, India, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Germany, South Africa, Southeast Asia, and airlines worldwide. A release date has not been announced yet.“Living” was directed by Oliver Hermanus and written by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro.

EXCLUSIVE: Living, one of the Sundance buzz titles since its January 21 premiere, has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for around $5 million for North American and some international territories, Deadline hears. This after a brisk auction involving the likes of Neon, Bleecker Street, and Focus Features.

Sony has named Dr. Jennifer Turner as executive vice president of TriStar TV Studios.

EXCLUSIVE: Living, one of the Sundance buzz titles since its January 21 premiere, is near a deal to be acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for around $5 million for North American and some international territories, Deadline hears. This after a brisk auction involving the likes of Neon, Bleecker Street, and Focus Features.