Washington Showbiz Latest News and Updates

EXCLUSIVE: Laura Harrier (White Men Can’t Jump) has been tapped for a major role opposite Bill Skarsgård and Nicolas Cage in Lords of War, the sequel to 2005 crime thriller Lord of War, which Andrew Niccol (Anon) wrote and is directing for Vendôme Pictures (CODA), sources tell Deadline.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix says its ad-supported plan includes “the vast majority” of TV shows and movies available on the standard no-ads tiers — but more than a year after the streamer introduced the cheaper option, several popular titles remain unavailable to customers with the ad plan. Most recently, Netflix customers noticed that Eli Roth’s horror film “Thanksgiving” (pictured above), added Feb. 17 for subscribers on ad-free tiers, is unavailable on the ad plan.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The roll that country star Jelly Roll is on will make itself felt in arenas in the late summer and fall of 2024, as the singer has laid out an itinerary that has him headlining big-sized halls in 37 U.S. cities over a two-month period. The “Beautifully Broken” tour starts Aug.

A bitter power struggle at Scotland’s biggest country and western club over the use of the “racist” Confederate flag has taken a new twist.

Foo Fighters will be performing an intimate show in Washington DC in aid of Power To The Patients, a non-profit organisation helping to make affordable healthcare more accessible.Chuck D and Fat Joe, the latter of whom has been particularly involved with the non-profit, will also be in attendance, as well as lawmakers, government officials and Power To The Patients staff. The gig will take place on March 5.“When we were asked by Power To The Patients to help raise awareness of the need for transparency in healthcare pricing, we immediately said yes,” the band said in a statement.

Joe Biden wrapped up his Los Angeles visit today with brief remarks at a Culver City library to talk about the administration’s plans to cancel the student debt of more than 150,000 borrowers.

Apple TV's new prestige drama series The New Look features a soundtrack that's assembled and produced by Jack Antonoff, the in-demand pop savant who just won at the 2024 Grammys for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical (his third Grammy in that category and 10th overall). The soundtrack collects covers of classic songbook standards from modern pop giants, and today's track comes from Perfume Genius, the singer-songwriter born Mike Hadreas.

There were few surprises at the third and likely final pre-primary meet up of the four leading candidates for California‘s open U.S. Senate seat, a race increasingly defined by a race for No. 2 behind front-runner Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).

Amber Dowling Netflix has picked up an untitled documentary about the Montreal Expos and the events surrounding the Major League Baseball team’s departure in 2004. The doc, which the streamer has confirmed exclusively to Variety, reps Netflix’s next original project out of Canada. The doc is the first greenlit under Netflix’s new creative partnership with Montreal-based Attraction.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has announced details of a US tour, following the new-found success of ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’.The announcement that the British singer will be hitting the road for US tour dates comes following the resurgence of her 2001 hit, namely due to its feature in the infamous final scene of Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn.Since the film’s release at the end of 2023, it has become a viral hit on TikTok and even entered the Billboard Hot 100 – her first-ever song to chart in the US. It also climbed the UK single charts, peaking at Number Two last month.Now, Ellis-Bextor will be playing the song, as well as other hit tracks from her discography live later this spring, with seven performances scheduled across the US.The tour will kick off on May 30, with an opening show at August Hall in San Francisco, and continues the following night (31) with a stop at The Observatory North Park in San Diego.From there, the remainder of the live shows will run across the first half of June, with the first being held at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC (June 3), followed by scheduled dates in Boston and Philadelphia.The singer’s previously announced New York City show at Webster Hall is also included in the tour dates, set for June 6, although tickets for the gig have already sold out.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is gearing up to tour around North America for the first time and adding more cities for fans to see her perform “Murder on the Dance Floor” live.

After a deal couldn’t be made for David Leitch to direct, Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment have moved fast as the studio is in final negotiations for Rogue One director Gareth Edwards to helm a new Jurassic World movie. The studio recently dated the pic to bow on July 2, 2025 and moved fast to find a director with Edwards spending all of last week meeting with execs. After impressing producers Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall, who helped launch the franchise in the 90s, an offer soon followed and pre-production is expected to ramp up once a deal is sealed.

Katcy Stephan “Rogue One” director Gareth Edwards is in talks to direct an all-new “Jurassic World” film for Universal. The news comes days after the studio’s negotiations with David Leitch fell apart. The film will be executive produced by Steven Spielberg through Amblin Entertainment.

James Taylor has been touring tirelessly across the world.2024 will be no different.From May through September, the 75-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is hitting the road with his All-Star Band once again.Along the way, he’ll spend quite a bit of time in New York, too. He’s currently slated to bring the hits like “Fire and Rain,” “You’ve Got A Friend,” “How Sweet It Is” to Buffalo (June 25), Syracuse (June 26), Long Island (Aug.

Oprah Winfrey and Niecy Nash-Betts will be honored at the 35th GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on March 14.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music On Tuesday, March 5, Foo Fighters will perform at a private concert in Washington, D.C. hosted by Power to the Patients, a non-profit fighting for a more affordable, accessible, and equitable healthcare system through price transparency. Veteran rappers Fat Joe, who has spearheaded music’s awareness of the organization, and Chuck D will also be in attendance.

Steven Miles, best known by his gay porn persona Sergeant Miles, and a Proud Boys member, was sentenced to two years in prison followed by another year of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6 protests and riots in Washington D.C. Photo: Instagram @real_sgtmiles

Rita McKenzie, known for staging the longest-running one-woman show in theatrical history, died Feb. 17 in Los Angeles days before her 77th birthday. She succumbed to what her family described as a long-term illness.

Paul Mescal has spoken about the process of making the much-anticipated Gladiator 2, confirming that there is a scene in which he “fights with baboons”. The Irish actor was speaking on the red carpet ahead of the BAFTA Film Awards, where he is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in All Of Us Strangers. Speaking to Alex Zane, he spoke about the experience of making the film.

Sir Keir Starmer said his party would deal with Donald Trump if the United States chooses him as the next president.

Life in the White House,” a celebratory picture book written by Betty C. Monkman and published, in a newly revised 15th edition, by the White House Historical Association.A series of new books shed fresh light on both the building, home to every president and first lady since 1800, and its occupants.

Editors’ Note: Running until the final general election results come in, the Deadline ElectionLine podcast spotlights the 2024 campaign and the blurred lines between politics and entertainment in modern America. Hosted by Washington bureau chief Ted Johnson and senior editor Dominic Patten, the podcast features commentary and interviews with top lawmakers and entertainment figures. At the same time, you can follow all the news in Biden & Trump rematch and more on the ElectionLine hub on Deadline.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Taiwan-based auteur Tsai Ming-liang, who has two films in the Berlinale this year, is a contrarian who would be almost at home working with art-galleries and museums as cinemas and film festivals. Indeed, his new “Abiding Nowhere” is part financed by the Smithsonian Institute. “Abiding Nowhere,” which premieres on Monday in the Encounters section and consists of lonely wanderings through Washington DC by a barefoot monk, is, by Tsai’s own admission, “not a normal film.” “It does not have a story or a plot.

Chris Petrikin, a former Paramount, Fox and William Morris Agency communications executive, has joined consulting firm Actum LLC as a managing director.

EXCLUSIVE: It is exactly 13 years to the day that Ralph Fiennes’ feature directorial debut Coriolanus – in which he also starred alongside Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox – world premiered to acclaim at the 2011 Berlinale.

Joe Biden said that the mass shootings at a Super Bowl celebration rally in Kansas City today “cuts deep in the American soul.”

Elizabeth Taylor To mark the opening of their new flagship watches and fine jewelry boutique, Chanel hosted a whimsical that drew the likes of prolific Oscar nominees, fashion industry leaders, and New York City art society. Venerated architect and long-standing Chanel collaborator, Peter Marino, helped kick off the festivities with an intimate cocktail party toasting the first glimpse of his dreamy two-story design. The night of celebration continued next door, where America Ferrera, Carey Mulligan, Michelle Williams, Kerry Washington, Elizabeth Olsen, Katie Holmes, Seth Meyers, Natasha Lyonne, Amandla Stenberg, Rose Byrne, Zazie Beetz, Sadie Sink, Tommy Dorfman, Rachel Brosnahan, Chase Sui Wonders, Lucy Boynton, Francesca Scorsese, and Larry Gagosian gathered for a special pop-up dinner.

The Kansas City Chiefs issued a formal statement on the tragic shooting that took place during their 2024 Super Bowl parade and rally on Wednesday (February 14).

EXCLUSIVE: National Geographic Documentary Films is bringing Bobi Wine: The People’s President back to the big screen in some major markets Friday for President’s Day weekend.

A drama series inspired by the music of Grammy winner Usher about Black love in Atlanta is in development at UCP.

Emily Longeretta On the heels of a charismatic Super Bowl halftime performance, Usher is now bringing his music to the small screen. The eight-time Grammy winner has partnered with UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, to develop a drama series. Executive producers are Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, Katie Zucker (Mad Massive Entertainment) and Kenny Meiselas (KMei Productions).

Blumhouse has set Black Adam filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra as director, and Danielle Deadwyler as star and EP on The Woman in the Yard.

UPDATED: The companywide layoffs at Paramount Global on Tuesday impacted about 20 employees at CBS News, including correspondents Catherine Herridge and Jeff Pegues, several sources said.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Approximately 20 CBS News staffers were given termination notices Tuesday as a result of broader layoffs taking place across Paramount Global. The cuts extended across CBS News operations in Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles, according to two people familiar with the matter, and included two of the news operation’s most prominent correspondents, Jeff Pegues and Catherine Herridge, these people said. A CBS News spokesperson did not respond immediately to a query seeking comment.

Welcome to ElectionLine’s A View From Abroad series, in which we speak to media figures who don’t live in America, but keep a close eye on its politics. Every few weeks, these smart observers will provide a unique perspective on what promises to be a fraught and unpredictable campaign for the White House. This week, our interview is with Matt Frei, who serves as an anchor and Europe editor for Channel 4 News. He is nominated for the network presenter prize at the Royal Television Society Journalism Awards, which take place on February 28.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Usher is on a roll. Following a high-energy halftime performance at the Super Bowl, where the R&B star performed for the biggest audience of his career, and the release of his ninth studio album “Coming Home,” Usher will embark on his “Past Present Future” tour this summer.