Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann Addresses Russia Pullout, Subscriber Outlook, Says “Never Say Never” To Adding Advertising

Dawn Ward has penned an emotional message thanking her fans, friends and family for their support following the harrowing ordeal she's endured in courts.The Real Housewives of Cheshire star, 48, spoke out on her Instagram feed as she was cleared of two counts of racially aggravated harassment and one count of assault and possession of cocaine after she was arrested in October 2019. "After the most stressful and traumatic period of my life I would like to thank all those people who have supported me and lifted my moral when I was truly and utterly flattened," she started her lengthy statement to her 574,000 followers.

Hanging up his belt. WWE star Paul “Triple H” Levesque is officially retiring after undergoing heart surgery last year due to heart failure.

Emily Longeretta It’s been nearly a year since Netflix announced that “Bridgerton” would be bid adieu to Regé-Jean Page as Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings. So, when Season 2 debuted on the streamer on Friday, the show wasted no time whatsover sharing where he was.Just as in the Julia Quinn books, Season 2 shifts focus to Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate’s (Simone Ashley) love story.

Season two of Bridgerton is officially streaming on Netflix and the show addresses the absence of Rege-Jean Page‘s character Simon Basset pretty early on.

From Bridgerton to Pam & Tommy, streaming services have changed the way we watch some of the biggest films and TV shows. But as popular as they may be, after Netflix announced its recent price hike, the on-demand video service industry doesn’t come cheap. In fact, subscribing to Netflix, Disney+, Now, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and Britbox could cost upwards of £43 a month – and that’s without any upgrades or deluxe packages.

Dolly Parton is still eligible to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, despite “bowing out” as a nominee. The country music star, who recently released new album Run Rose Run, was among the artists nominated this year, alongside Eminem, A Tribe Called Quest, Duran Duran, Carly Simon and Beck.

Huh?!

Dolly Parton has taken herself out of consideration for this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame after earning her first nomination in February. The country music icon announced on Monday that although she’s appreciative of her nomination for the Class of 2022 induction, she has decided to remove herself from the ballot. "Dolly here!" the singer began her statement on Instagram.

Will Smith isn’t afraid of the talk that surrounds his relationship with wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The A-list couple’s decades-long marriage has become a topic of conversation since the 2020 “Red Table Talk” interview, where Jada revealed her “entanglement” with singer, August Alsina. For Will, he isn’t bothered by the “chatter.” In fact, he encourages it.

Will Smith isn’t afraid of the talk that surrounds his relationship with wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The A-list couple’s decades-long marriage has become a topic of conversationsince the 2020 interview, where Jada revealed her “entanglement” with singer, August Alsina. For Will, he isn’t bothered by the “chatter.” In fact, he encourages it.

Dolly Parton has shared her feelings on selling the rights to her back catalogue, as some of her peers have done recently, in a new interview.The likes of Neil Diamond, Sting, Bob Dylan, ZZ Top, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and more have all sold their back catalogues in recent months and years.Asked in an interview with the BBC if she was also planning to do the same, Parton replied: “I would not be above doing that. All I would do then is to take that money and do whatever for my family or other businesses.“Then I would start a whole new publishing company, start over in a few years, sell that too if I wanted to.

Dolly Parton has said "never say never" to selling the rights to her music back catalogue. The 76-year-old country music legend - who already owns her own publishing company - has considered following in the footsteps of a number of big-name stars, including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Diamond, who have recently cashed in by selling their back catalogues for mega-money. On what she would do with the cash, the 'Jolene' hitmaker told the BBC: "I would not be above doing that.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSpotify has suspended premium service in Russia after the country launched its war on Ukraine — a move that the audio streaming powerhouse expects to result in a loss of about 1.5 million paying customers in the first quarter of 2022.That’s according to Spotify CFO Paul Vogel, who spoke at Morgan Stanley’s 2022 Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on Wednesday. According to a Spotify spokesperson, the loss of its business in Russia is not material: The country represents less than 1% of total revenue.Vogel also alluded to the recent controversy over podcaster Joe Rogan, which has spurred calls to boycott the streamer (but Vogel didn’t identify Rogan by name).Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Vogel, Spotify was trending ahead of its Q1 guidance of adding a net 8 million total users, including 3 million paying customers.

Fans of “Gossip Girl” would love to see members of the original cast become involved with the reboot, and even though that has yet it happen, it doesn’t mean that it couldn’t.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix execs have regularly insisted that there’s no way the company would introduce an ad-supported service.Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann, speaking Tuesday at an investor conference, took a slightly more open tone: He noted that the subscription streamer doesn’t currently have any plans right now to introduce an ad-supported VOD plan, but he didn’t rule it out at some point in the future.“It’s not like we have religion against advertising, to be clear,” said Neumann, speaking Tuesday at Morgan Stanley’s 2022 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. “But that’s not something that’s in our plans right now… We have a really nice scalable subscription model, and again, never say never, but it’s not in our plan.” During the session, Neumann was asked about Netflix’s thinking about a cheaper, ad-based tier after Disney announced plans to rollout an AVOD plan for Disney Plus starting late in 2022 in the U.S.

Walt Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said the entertainment giant’s total exposure to Russia and Ukraine combined is about 2% of its total operating income — with Ukraine about 10% of that 2%.

“Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia,” the streamer said in a statement. It is unclear whether the subscriptions for Netflix’s approximately 1 million subscribers in the country will be suspended or removed entirely.