Robin Thede Signs 3-Year Overall Deal with HBO

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLive Nation has re-upped longtime CEO Michael Rapino to a new five-year contract that will see him earn $30 million year if he and the company meet performance metrics, according to documents filed with the SEC.While Rapino’s annual salary holds at his previous $3 million per year, the annual target cash bonus is climbing from $6 million to $17 million per year. The news was first reported by the Hollywood Reporter.Starting next year, Rapino will also be eligible for an annual grant of restricted shares valued at no less than $10 million.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterPat McAfee is staying in business with WWE.The sports entertainment giant has announced that McAfee has signed a multi-year extension of his contract. He will continue to serve as a member of the commentary team on “SmackDown Live” alongside Michael Cole. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed.“Very few can transition from professional athletics to entertainment the way [Pat McAfee] has,” Paul “Triple H” Levesque wrote on Twitter.

came out as gay.“I rebelled against it my whole life,” he said at the time. “I thought I’d never, ever come out.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterGet Lifted Film Co. has entered a multi-year overall deal for scripted content at UCP.

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of his headline-making HBO special Rothaniel, Jerrod Carmichael has signed a two-year overall deal with the premium network. It includes Carmichael headlining a new stand-up comedy special. It would be his third at HBO, following the 2014 Love at the Store, 2017 8 and this year’s Rothaniel. He is also expected to develop other projects. Noone is commenting but I hear the pact is valued in the eight-figure range.

BET has signed comedian, actress and producer Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams to a multi-year overall deal under which she will produce, write and perform in new series and other projects—both scripted and unscripted— across BET and Paramount Global.

an eight-episode order for Issa Rae's new comedy series, , fans are getting a proper look at what's in store.Premiering on July 21, the Max Original series follows two estranged high school friends from Miami, Shawna (Aida Osman) and Mia (KaMillion), who reunite to form a rap group. The concept was developed from Rae’s original  script and aims to highlight the challenges women face trying to break into the male-dominated hip-hop industry.The trailer gives fans a look at the duo's initial reunion, and their journey trying to make it big in 2022, taking advantage of social media, club promotions and more to launch their career. Watch the video below.’s Syreeta Singleton serves as showrunner and executive producer with Rae and Singleton executive producing alongside Hoorae's Montrel McKay of , Jonathan Berry of  and 3 Arts' Dave Becky of . Hip-hop duo Yung Miami and JT of the City Girls also serve as co-executive producers, and Rae’s go-to audio content company, Raedio, will handle music supervision for the series, so we can expect a soundtrack comparable to that of .Jonica Booth, Devon Terrell and RJ Cyler also star in the series. premieres on Thursday, July 21 with its first two episodes.

Issa Rae (“Insecure”). The series premiere on July 21 with two episodes at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m.

EXCLUSIVE: After parting ways for a brief time, Michael Bay and Brad Fuller are teaming back up with Fuller returning to Platinum Dunes and the producing duo signing an overall deal with Universal Pictures. With more than $2.7 billion in box office grosses since its founding in 2001, the Company’s credits include some of the most iconic genre films in recent history: the reinvigorated Texas Chainsaw Massacre series; the critically and commercially-acclaimed A Quiet Place: Parts I & II; as well as Universal Pictures’ successful The Purge and Ouija franchises. Today’s announcement was made by Universal Pictures President, Peter Cramer.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Cake Boss” star Buddy Valastro, a longtime staple in the Warner Bros. Discovery lifestyle brands family, is making A+E Networks his new TV home.The cable giant has signed custom cake whiz Valastro, who rose to fame through his TLC reality series “Cake Boss,” which is centered on his long-standing family business Carlo’s Bakery, to a multi-platform creative partnership.The pact encompasses more than 60 hours of original programming, including development of multiple new series and holiday specials produced by A+E’s Six West Media, in association with Valastro’s Cakehouse Media.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMelissa Benoist and her Three Things Productions banner have renewed their overall deal with Warner Bros. Television.In addition, Benoist has officially signed on to star in and produce the upcoming HBO Max-WBTV series “The Girls on the Bus.” She was first reported as being in talks for the series back in February.Under the terms of the overall deal, Benoist and Three Things will continue to develop and produce programming across all platforms for WBTV. Benoist runs three things with Sahar Kashi, the company’s vice president of development.“The Girls on the Bus” is inspired by a chapter in Amy Chozick’s book “Chasing Hillary.” Benoist will play Sadie McCarthy, a journalist who romanticizes the original “Boys on the Bus” and who scrapped her whole life for her own shot at covering a presidential campaign for the paper of record.

Angelique Jackson HBO Max’s Scene in Black, which celebrates Black creators and audiences alike, has scheduled a lineup of activations over the July 4th weekend in New Orleans.Coinciding with Essence Festival, marquee events include a welcome mixer spotlighting the creative community of New Orleans and previewing the upcoming HBO documentary, “Katrina Babies,” with the film’s director Edwards Buckles Jr. Scene in Black will also fete Issa Rae’s upcoming HBO Max comedy series “Rap Sh!t” with a special screening, a panel discussion featuring Rae, who created and executive produces the show, alongside showrunner and executive producer Syreeta Singleton and stars Aida Osman and KaMillion.

The stars of Jordan Peele‘s movie Us have reunited!

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRobin Thede has signed a three-year overall deal with HBO.Under the deal, Thede will develop content exclusively for HBO, HBO Max, and Warner Bros. Television.

The Morning Show executive producer and director Mimi Leder is sticking around Apple TV+. The Emmy-winning filmmaker (On The Basis of Sex, ER) has signed a multi-year, overall deal with the streamer.

Robin Thede is staying in the Warner Bros. Discovery family.

Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground production company is heading to Amazon’s Audible platform.Following the end of a three-year deal with Spotify, the Obamas have reportedly inked an exclusive multi-year, first-look deal with the Amazon-owned platform.While firm details surrounding the Obamas’ new deal with Audible remain unclear at this time, comments from Michelle Obama hint at the possibility of their content with Audible being released on multiple streaming platforms.The Audible deal will see the Obamas “keep striving to tell compelling, provocative, and soulful stories — while doing everything we can to make sure they reach the folks who need to hear them,” Michelle Obama told The Hollywood Reporter.A Higher Ground spokesperson also told The Hollywood Reporter that the two companies “plan to make the Audible Originals available to the widest possible audience”.The newly signed deal with Audible comes after the Obamas’ three-year deal with streaming giant Spotify ended earlier this year. The Spotify deal saw them “develop, produce and appear” on select podcasts through their Higher Ground production company.The Obamas’ contributions to Spotify notably included the eight-part podcast series Renegades: Born In The USA with Bruce Springsteen.

Angelique Jackson Issa Rae might be best known as the queen of South L.A. — she was given the key to the city of Inglewood earlier this year — but Miami also holds a special place in her heart.After wrapping the final season of “Insecure” last year, Rae shot the new HBO Max comedy series “Rap Sh!t” on location in the 305.

EXCLUSIVE: Zahir McGhee has signed with CAA for representation. Additionally, the Queens creator/executive producer has extended his existing overall deal with ABC Signature for an additional two years.