L.A. Rams Coach Sean McVay, NCAA Champion Angel Reese, RedBird Founder Gerry Cardinale Added to Variety and Sportico’s Sports & Entertainment Summit

Kirsten Dunst enjoyed an evening at the Sunset Tower Hotel in Los Angeles to celebrate the launch of the Coach x Observed By Us collaboration on Wednesday (July 12).

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Jeff Zucker is not shopping for CNN, according to one of the backing partners of his new media venture. Gerry Cardinale, the private equity player and founder of RedBird Capital, partnered with International Media Investments last year to launch a $1 billion media acquisitions engine run by Zucker. Reports were rampant in June that Zucker was looking to take CNN off the hands of Warner Bros. Discovery, after running the news network for decades before resigning in 2022 over a consensual workplace affair. “No,” Cardinale said on Thursday when asked if he and Zucker were looking to buy CNN, speaking on stage at the Variety and Sportico Sports and Entertainment Summit in West Hollywood. “I would not have the longevity that I’ve had if I ran my business running around town talking about deals in a way that’s, frankly, disrespectful to David Zaslav. I’m kind of amused and irritated by it.”

Charna Flam Angel Reese announced the launch of the Angel C. Reese Foundation, which will be dedicated to empowering girls and women through sports, education, financial literacy and more. The 2023 NCAA women’s basketball champion shared the news at the Variety and Sportico Sports and Entertainment Summit, saying she will launch her namesake foundation to foster equal opportunities for young women in areas where they have been overlooked. She was joined on stage at the event by sports journalist Taylor Rooks, who moderated the keynote conversation. The Angel C. Reese Foundation will strive to create equitable resources for young women and underrepresented groups through several initiatives, including programs that teach solutions to overcome systemic challenges, as well as provide resources that empower a new generation of girls to excel in sports and successfully transition to the real world.

Stuart Miller NBA stars Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, Jaylen Brown and NCAA standout Angel Reese would make a great group of starters on the court. But when the quartet gathers in Los Angeles on July 13, they won’t be shooting hoops — they’ll be talking about the shifting landscape of athletics and media at Variety’s Sports and Entertainment Summit. Alongside fellow athletes like Olympic snowboarder Scotty James and UCLA quarterback Chase Griffin, the summit lineup also includes executives including Rosalyn Durant, exec VP and head of programming and acquisitions at ESPN; Jon Cruz, global head of sports partnerships at YouTube; and Karin Timpone, CMO at MLB. They’ll discuss everything from game programming and coverage to personalizing immersive experiences for viewers.

LeBron James isn’t retiring. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer announced on Wednesday night at the ESPYs that he will be back for his 21st season.

Universal’s romantic comedy “The List” teases Halston Sage and Christian Navarro finding love in a hopeless place – Los Angeles. Abby (Sage) wasn’t expecting to add Jake (Navarro) to her dating itinerary, but after a rough breakup leads to her building a list of celebrity “free passes” and traveling to Los Angeles to court the rich and famous, his ambition and charm catches her off guard and flips her expectations of love on their head.The romcom charts Abby’s personal reinvention when her fiancé cheats on her and sleeps with a celebrity on his “free pass” list.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie‘s legal battle over French winery Château Miraval is still ongoing — and getting even messier.

Jennifer Garner had a tough workout this weekend. The actress was photographed in Los Angeles as she honed in her boxing skills on a private outdoor lesson with a personal trainer. Photos show Garner giving her workout her all and having a laugh after completing it.

Whitney Cinkala Damar Hamlin will receive the Variety Sports and Entertainment Social Impact Award as part of the Variety Sportico Sports and Entertainment Summit, presented by City National Bank on July 13 in Los Angeles. Hamlin will be recognized for his accomplished philanthropy work, including extensive projects with the American Heart Association. He is also preparing for his third season with the Buffalo Bills, following his full recovery from a mid-game cardiac arrest last season. He will also participate in a keynote conversation following his acceptance of the award. Additionally, NBA 2023 MVP Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers will join his WME agent Ross Raphael in a keynote conversation at the event. Embiid and Raphael will speak about their ongoing collaboration in sports, media and entertainment.

Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout from the Los Angeles Angels, and Freddie Freeman, J.D. Martinez, and Mookie Betts from the Los Angeles Dodgers were named as starters to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, set for July 11 in Seattle.

Taylor Swift is looking cute and casual in these new candid photos!

Todd Gilchrist editor Chuck D was one of hip hop’s elder statesmen even before the genre was old enough to have them: born in 1960, he witnessed its birth in the boroughs of New York in 1973, released his first album as a founding member of incendiary group Public Enemy at age 27, and has presided over its evolution with a perspective and erudition shared by few in rap, before or since. His insights and attitudes both shaped hip hop on wax and commented upon it in popular culture, burnishing the legitimacy of an art form driven by people of color even as it became commercially supported, even co-opted by mainstream, majority-white consumers. His impact, and his importance, is reiterated in “Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World,” a four-part documentary he developed and executive produced for PBS which bears the name of one of Public Enemy’s biggest and most influential hit singles. On June 21, Chuck D appeared on a panel in Los Angeles to discuss the creation of the documentary alongside Gil Vazquez, President of the Keith Haring Foundation; Jean-Michel Basquiat’s sister Lisane, appearing on behalf of his King Pleasure exhibit at the Broad Museum; and “Fight the Power” coproducer Lorrie Boula. Before the panel, he spoke to Variety about the four elements — DJing, MCing, break dancing and graffiti — that for 50 years now have formed hip hop’s foundational pillars, the changing tastes and techniques artists use to create work (and get it seen), and the advantages for him of getting old in a genre steadily supported by youth.

Angela Bassett is getting her long-awaited Oscar! Bassett was first nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Tina Turner in 1993's and the actress has been a prominent figure in Hollywood for the past 40 years — garnering another Oscar nomination for her role in 2022's . On Monday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Bassett, as well as Mel Brooks and Carol Littleton, will receive an honorary Oscar at this year's Governors Awards. The ceremony will also honor Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The 14th annual Governors Awards is set to take place on Saturday, Nov.

appeared “kinda shady” and less than thrilled — and seemingly didn’t even stand up to clap while seated in the front row.She had been sitting next to “Elvis” star and Oscar nominee Austin Butler, whose hands she held onto.While some fans saw her as a “sore loser,” others felt sorry for the actress, who previously was Oscar-nominated for starring in the 1993 Tina Turner biopic “What’s Love Got to Do With It” — but famously lost out to Holly Hunter for “The Piano.”“Across her decades-long career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting,” Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement, lauding all four as “trailblazers who have transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and movie fans.”Yang also lauded Mel Brooks as someone who “lights up our hearts with his humor, and his legacy has made a lasting impact on every facet of entertainment,” praised Littleton as “a model for those who come after her” and Satter as having “played a vital role in the careers of countless filmmakers around the world.”The ceremony will go down on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, in Los Angeles.Bassett broke her silence about her most recent Oscar dissby writing an essay about Butler, 31, for the Time 100 Most Influential People of 2023 series.“On the evening of the Oscars, with Austin seated next to me, I understood intimately what he felt when it was time to learn if he would climb those stairs to the stage,” Bassett wrote of Butler, who, like her, did not win for his performance as Elvis Presley.“So, I took his hand and held it softly as the winner was announced.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and Carol Littleton will receive honorary Oscars at this year’s Governors Awards, announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In addition, the Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Awards. The four statuettes will be presented at the 14th annual ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, in Los Angeles. “The Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to honor four trailblazers who have transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and movie fans,” said Academy President Janet Yang. “Across her decades-long career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting. Mel Brooks lights up our hearts with his humor, and his legacy has made a lasting impact on every facet of entertainment. Carol Littleton’s career in film editing serves as a model for those who come after her. A pillar of the independent film community, Michelle Satter has played a vital role in the careers of countless filmmakers around the world.”

The newest Academy Award winners have been announced.

Actor Angela Bassett, writer-director-actor Mel Brooks and film editor Carol Littleton will receive honorary Oscars and the Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy’s 2023 Governors Awards, the Academy announced on Monday.The recipients were chosen by the Academy’s Board of Governors, and the awards will be presented at the 14th annual Governors Awards ceremony, which will take place on Nov. 18 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.Bassett has been nominated for Oscars for “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Her other films include “Boyz N the Hood,” “Waiting to Exhale,” “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and “Soul.”Brooks won an Oscar for the screenplay to his first film, “The Producers,” and has also been nominated for his screenplay to “Young Frankenstein” and for the title song to “Blazing Saddles.” He also wrote for Sid Caesar’s television shows, created the television series “Get Smart” and turned “The Producers” into a long-running and Tony-winning Broadway musical.

William Earl Variety won 13 first-place awards Sunday night at the Los Angeles Press Club’s 65th annual SoCal Journalism Awards, more than twice as many as any other entertainment publication. The lucky 13 awards represented a historic high for Variety at the SoCal Journalism Awards, topping the previous best of 12 first-place prizes the magazine earned in 2018. Variety came into Sunday’s ceremony with a record 96 nominations, representing work published online and in print during the 2022 calendar year. The awards were handed out during a gala dinner attended by hundreds in the historic Crystal Ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

If you’re a single person making $70,000 in Los Angeles, you are considered low income. If you make $80,000 in Orange County, you’re also in that category

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent NBC has announced its panel of coaches for “The Voice” Season 25, with Grammy-winning artists Dan + Shay joining the show as the first-ever coaching duo. Dan + Shay will serve as coaches alongside RebaMcEntire, John Legend and Chance the Rapper. Season 25 will air in the spring of 2024. The network’s announcement comes ahead of the show’s 24th season, which airs this fall with the previously-announced coach lineup of Niall Horan, Gwen Stefani, Legend and McEntire in her debut season as coach. Season 24 will be the first season without veteran coach Blake Shelton, who has been with “The Voice” since it premiered in 2011 and took his final bow with Season 23, which wrapped up last month.