Jeffrey Katzenberg Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

By Tom Grater

Will Smith is heading back to the small screen to host a stand-up comedy series for Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg’s new Quibi initiative.

By Peter Bart

T-Mobile is giving Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman’s Quibi a boost in its bid to lure subscribers, announcing Wednesday that some wireless customers will get a free one-year membership to the mobile-first video service. The deal, first struck in October, means that people signed up for T-Mobile’s family plans won’t have to pay the standard $5-per-month fee for Quibi’s base ad-supported subscription.

T-Mobile is launching a free one-year giveaway of Quibi to some wireless customers — a promo that could plant the seeds for Jeffrey Katzenberg’s ambitious mobile TV startup to build a sustainable viewer base.

Quibi has spent more than $1 billion so far gearing up for what founder Jeffrey Katzenberg touts as a category-defining pay-TV service of the future, uniquely built for smartphones. It’s not clear when, or even whether, the startup will recoup that.

Five days before Quibi’s scheduled April 6 launch, the Jeffrey Katzenberg-founded mobile-video venture has been hit with another legal action — demanding that Quibi be forced to stop using technology it allegedly stole from an interactive-video company.

By Dominic Patten

By Tom Grater

By Dominic Patten

By Peter White

NBC News’ newest programs won’t be appearing on NBC, MSNBC or CNBC.

By Dominic Patten

Eko struck back against Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Quibi with its own lawsuit Tuesday, accusing Quibi of infringing on one of Eko’s patents and misappropriating the interactive-video company’s trade secrets.

Quibi has cancelled its launch event in Los Angeles amid concerns about the coronavirus, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. The event, which was set to take place April 5 at 3Labs in Culver City, would have served as a coming out party for Meg Whitman and Jeffrey Katzenberg's mobile video startup, which is slated to launch April 6.

By Erik Pedersen

Quibi has canceled its red carpet launch event “out of an abundance of caution” amid the growing threat of the spread of coronavirus, or COVID-19.

One month ahead of commercial launch, Quibi said it closed $750 million in second-round funding, which the premium mobile-subscription player believes will take it to the point of profitability. Led by founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman, the company has now banked $1.75 billion to date.

By Peter White

Demi Lovato has landed a new role as a talk show host.

Demi Lovato has landed a new role as a talk show host.

One of the entertainment industry’s most powerful political consultancy firms —Gonring, Spahn & Associates — is adding a third name to its signage.

Laurie Segall, a technology journalist and entrepreneur, has been named a correspondent for “60 In 6,” the new program being developed by “60 Minutes” for Quibi, the short-form video hub run by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman. Segall is the latest journalist to join the new venture, which has also attracted staffers from Univision News and the Washington Post.

Jeffrey Katzenberg has heard the chatter about streaming wars, but the media mogul thinks that when the dust settles, the fight to attract audiences won’t end with just a few victors.

By Anthony D'Alessandro

By Denise Petski

Ted Sarandos, who has helped to upend the way audiences receive and consume entertainment as Netflix’s chief content officer, will be honored with the Milestone Award at the 31st annual Producers Guild Awards on Jan. 18. Game-changers including Steven Spielberg, Sherry Lansing, Robert Iger, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Ron Meyer have previously received the recognition, and Sarandos admits it’s not an honor he imagined himself receiving before he entered showbiz.

Reese Witherspoon is taking a walk on the wild side.